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Champions of Giving: Dan Little

Meet the Donor

Dan Little didn’t grow up in Massachusetts. He was raised in central Pennsylvania, “coal country and farm country,” as he describes it. After moving to the area in the early 2000s, he eventually settled in, sending five of his six children to Austin Prep.

“Annie, Ernie, Chuck, Maggie, and Emma all went through here. Emma’s still here. It’s an incredible place, and we were really fortunate to find it.”

For the Littles, Austin Prep became more than a school. “My kids, I like to think, were a big part of the place, and this is a huge part of our family,” Dan says. “We appreciate everything that Austin Prep has done for us.”

The Inspiration to Give

Baseball has been the heartbeat of the Little family’s Austin Prep story. Dan’s sons began playing for Coach Jonathan Pollard ’97 as eight-year-olds with the Stampede travel team, and those early experiences built a lifelong connection.

“Honestly, were it not for that connection, Austin Prep might not have hit our radar screen,” Dan says. “That was really some divine providence, because this school is a lot more than baseball, but baseball is how we discovered it.”

When his boys joined the varsity team, they played natural grass surface field before it would eventually, affectionately, become known as The Swamp. “If you were practicing here in March or April, you often times had to wait out the winter weather,” Dan recalls. “For as good as the program was, there was an imbalance between the strength of the team and the facility the kids were playing on.”

The idea of a new field began as a dream shared by parents, coaches, and school leaders. “It was a plan that none of us really thought could get to where it got,” he says. “Next thing you know, you go from playing on a field that is really impacted by the elements and playing on a field that kids from other schools walk into and say, ‘Wow, we get to play in this?’”

The Regis Paul Little Field

The baseball field now bears the name of Dan’s late father, Regis Paul Little, who passed away in 2017. “He really embodied veritas, unitas, caritas,” Dan says. “He knew Latin. He was an altar boy back in the ’50s, so he probably knew what those words meant. I didn’t until I got here.”

Dan describes his father as a man defined by humility and quiet generosity. “The willingness to give when you don’t have much is really the most impressive to me,” he reflects. “Dad grew up with not much. Very much a blue-collar guy, somebody who just worked and worked and worked. He worked at work, and then he came home and he worked for neighbors. He helped anybody who needed it, and he took nothing in return — maybe an occasional butterscotch pie or a loaf of bread. That was it.”

His father’s name on the field, Dan says, is a lasting thank-you. “That’s why his name’s here. This is a thank you.”

Why Giving Matters

For Dan, the decision to give came from both opportunity and gratitude. “The need was becoming more obvious,” he says. “The need for a field that was appropriate for the level of what was going to happen here. And at the same time, I was in a fortunate window in my professional career. Those two things ran into each other — there was the need, and there was the means.”

After speaking with Head of School James Hickey, Ph.D., and Coach Pollard, Dan offered to help bring the vision to life. “I thought I was coming up with a great idea — ‘Hey, should there be a new field?’ — and it was already well in the works,” he recalls. “So I didn’t conceptualize it, but I was lucky enough to help out a little bit and give them a little ammunition to go to the board and say, ‘Hey, we might be in a position to stop talking about this and actually start doing.’”

His perspective on philanthropy reflects the same humility that defined his father. “We should give back when we’re able,” Dan says. “We should be judicious about where we give and why. I try to make it contagious — the level of gratitude I have any given day. Even on my bad days, I try to remind people to be grateful for what we have.”

For Dan, giving is an expression of appreciation and a way to share that spirit with others. “If you’re grateful for the things around you, you should automatically be inspired to share with others,” he says.

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Become a Champion of Giving

The article above is part of our Champions of Giving series, which highlights the individuals and families whose generosity transforms student lives and strengthens the Austin Prep experience. You too can be a Champion of Giving by supporting our students through annual giving, memorial scholarships, or campaign contributions. Your gift helps students learn boldly, lead with purpose, and serve with compassion — creating a lasting impact for generations to come.