Claudia and Daryl Vander Pol: Investing in Student Athletes

The story of Claudia and Daryl Vander Pol began in 1963 when Daryl '66 was studying in his dorm room on the fourth floor of Hill Hall and the phone rang. It was Claudia Teel '66, and, as she tells it, she watched him pick up the phone from her fourth-floor Hill dorm room across the parking lot. Though the two had never said more than "hello" in passing and she was "scared to death," she was inviting him to Tolo (a school event where the women invite the men). Daryl suspected she was initially drawn to his 1958 Ford Fairlane two-door hardtop, but Claudia insists she invited him because she sensed he was a "really neat guy." Whatever the reason, that phone call changed the course of both their lives. Claudia and Daryl have now been married for 56 years and have two children and three grandchildren.

The Vander Pols raised their children and a couple horses on 3.5 acres in Lynnwood, Wash., where they lived for 44 years. But Claudia had always wanted to live across Puget Sound on Whidbey Island, where her family had owned a farm for many years. So about 10 years ago, after buying a five-acre parcel of land with ample room for their horses, they built their current home, which offers up stunning views of Useless Bay, Double Bluff, Admiralty Inlet, and the Olympic Mountains.

Raised by devout Christian parents on a small dairy farm in Whatcom County, Wash., Daryl was the first in his family to attend college. His mother, the oldest in her family, had to care for a sick mother and younger siblings. As a result, she never had the chance to finish high school, but cherished education and loved to read. "She was the primary encourager for me to pursue college," said Daryl, who never doubted that higher education was in his future. "I was a good student in high school, and I knew I didn't want to spend the rest of my life under a dairy cow."

Claudia also grew up in a Christian home. Her father, Edwin Teel, who founded Vitamilk Dairy during the Great Depression, graduated from Seattle Pacific in 1936. Claudia's mother, though, never had the chance to finish college.

In 1962, by the grace of God and with the help of scholarships, both Claudia and Daryl enrolled in Seattle Pacific College and graduated four years later ― Claudia with a degree in zoology and Daryl with degrees in mathematics. Daryl went on to earn an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Since day one at the University, Claudia and Daryl have been avid supporters of SPU Athletics, including being season ticketholders for decades. "Attending events has really been helpful for us, (1) to stay plugged into the university, and (2) to maintain relationships with at least a handful of former classmates and associates and friends."

The Vander Pols' support of SPU Athletics has gone far beyond attending athletic events, though. In 2019 they transferred to the University their shares in a limited liability company that owned an office building in Seattle. When the building was sold, the University received a significant amount of money for its LLC shares. "We made that gift because we had interest in a commercial property that was being sold at a greater profit than anticipated, with significant capital gains, and we both said, we don't need the money, so why should we pay a huge capital gains tax on this when we can give it to the University?"

As part of that gift, Daryl and Claudia gifted the Women's Rowing team two new racing shells, which they named for their mothers: the "Dorothy VP" and the "Polly Teel." That gift has since enabled an already top-notch team to compete using some of the best equipment available.

In 2023, along with other cash donations, the Vander Pols gave a $4,000 gift to help the Men's Soccer team travel to Europe. Daryl explained, "There are needs, and we want to do what we can to make sure they're met. That was a small thing."

Daryl sums up their philosophy of giving to SPU Athletics this way: "It is our desire that SPU will continue to reflect excellence in all its programs, both athletic and academic. We feel athletics can touch and influence an element of SPU's audience, as well as the greater public, in a manner separate from academics. Our desire is that the excellence of SPU Athletics presents a strong, positive institutional image to the community."