Diane Sutter, ’72

Diane Sutter, ’72

Diane Sutter ’72 knows the legacy she wants to leave behind, and a planned gift to Allegheny College is a large part of that. “When you’ve led a good and fortunate life,” she says, “you should want to pay it forward.”

For Diane, the president and CEO of ShootingStar Broadcasting, Allegheny has long been a part of her life. Her father, G. Edward Sutter, Jr. ’33, was an alumnus, and childhood summers were spent in nearby Conneaut Lake—where Diane still owns a home. After participating in a week-long program on campus, attending Allegheny “felt like the right decision” and she has been a loyal advocate ever since. Along with providing for Allegheny through a bequest in her will, Diane served on the Alumni Council for six years. As she explains, “having been a part of an institution like Allegheny, you want to sustain it for future generations.”

She credits Allegheny with “helping you learn to think and problem solve,” qualities she now looks for in potential employees, and believes that these qualities made her successful in graduate school and beyond. For this reason she is an avid supporter of the College’s experiential learning efforts. Diane’s “pay it forward” philosophy applies not only to Allegheny but to the broadcasting world as well. She created the Broadcast Leadership Training Program, an executive MBA-style program that trains women and minorities to become broadcast owners and group leaders. After all, “we don’t get where we are by ourselves.”