By Rose Hamilton

As Jennifer Burgoyne Sementelli ’80 considered her college choices in 1978, she was clear on what she wanted: a small-school environment and an all-women’s campus so she could focus on academics and her career plans.

“When I walked onto the Lasell campus, I felt like I was home,” she says.

The young woman from Lancaster, Massachusetts, immediately thrived at the close-knit Newton school, but the all-girls requirement quickly became moot. In October of her freshman year, she met Newton resident David Sementelli at a Babson College fraternity party. They have been together since.

From the start, they supported and encouraged each other, enabling Jennifer to earn her associate’s degree. “It’s a good fit,” she says of their partnership. “We have the same goals. We wanted to be successful, and we are both hard-working.”

The pair married, founded D&S Landscaping and Excavating when they were both 25 years old, and raised a family in Newton.

Jennifer manages the D&S office while David works with clients and staff. The company has provided landscaping, snow plowing, and excavation services to Lasell for decades. “I call Lasell the college that keeps on giving to me,” David says. “It’s where I met my wife and we’ve been doing business there for over 30 years.”

Jennifer has fond memories of her professors encouraging her to believe in herself. “I was young and in love, but I made it to classes,” she says. “The professors helped me push myself to be the best student I could be.”

Jennifer says she and David both enjoy giving back to Lasell, in part because they equate it to watching a child grow up. The two have witnessed Lasell’s transformation from a women’s junior college to a four-year coeducational university.

Last year, the couple created the Lieutenant Richard Sementelli Courage Scholarship to support students majoring in criminal justice. The scholarship honors David’s cousin Richard, a longtime member of the Massachusetts State Police who passed away in 2020.

As a scholarship recipient herself, Jennifer understands the impact financial support can have on a student. She and her husband each come from families with six children.

“We know what it’s like to not have things,” she adds. “If I did not have financial help, I wouldn’t have been able to go to college. We understand the price of education.”