WHY WE GIVE: ‘We Have a Passion for Helping Students’

Chris (BS ’88, MBA ’88, JD ’91) and Kristine (BA ’88) Boyett loved their student experiences at UF so much they want to make sure other Gators have that opportunity, too. So, they made it a priority to support campus programs.

THEN: High-school sweethearts, Chris and Kristine matriculated to the University of Florida in the 1980s; while earning their degrees, they enjoyed Gainesville’s thriving music scene and formed a dog-walkers group.

NOW: Married nearly 25 years, the Miami-based Boyetts have four children (including three Gators) and are active members of the UF Parent and Family Leadership Council. They generously support UF’s Office of Student Life and its Career Connections Center.

“We have a passion for helping students,” says Chris. “You want the best for them, and that includes helping them put their best foot forward when they apply for jobs.”

“Guidance means everything,” agrees Kristine. “Even just one person, with the right advice, can make a big difference in your life.”

THEN: Kristine went to Miami Killian Senior High School, where she was a cheerleader and an avid reader. At UF, she majored in sociology, studying marriage and family across cultures. In contrast with her required courses in high school, the diverse College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offerings were a breath of fresh air, she said.

“I loved CLAS because it had eclectic options for study,” said Kristine, “everything from anthropology to sociology to writing classes.”

NOW: Kristine is proud to support the Machen Florida Opportunity Scholars program, which provides scholarships and support for first-generation college students.

“The MFOS program did not exist when I was an undergrad, but I know how transformational a college education can be,” she says. “While neither of my parents had a college degree, college was the determining factor in how successful my siblings and I later became.”

THEN: Chris majored in finance at Warrington College of Business and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in that subject. When Black Monday, the infamous stock market crash, happened on Oct. 19, 1987, Chris gave up his dreams of becoming the next Gordon Gekko and entered the Levin College of Law, where he became enamored of tax law in particular.

NOW: Chris is a partner at Holland & Knight, in Miami, whose National Private Wealth practice he co-chairs. The 2021 “Best Lawyers in America” guide praises Chris as “an outstanding trust and estates attorney who consistently provides excellent advice to clients.” That same year, he was recognized by Legal Week as one of the world’s top 250 private client and trust practitioners.

Chris says that philanthropic advice gleaned from his first week of law school guides him to this day. The occasion was Dean Jeffrey Lewis’s orientation address to the new 1989 crop of law students.

Remembers Chris: “One of the things Dean Lewis told us was, ‘Your education is costing you, say, $3,000. But the state of Florida is paying $10,000 to educate you. The difference is coming from the people of the great state of Florida. So, when you graduate and go out and practice, you owe them. Give back.’”