November 25, 2025
from the Record, Spring 2025
PEOPLE FIRST: The Mantra That Made a Millionaire
Attorney. Husband. Survivor. Kyle Fraser ’16 won the $1 million prize as the last man standing on season 48 of the CBS hit show Survivor. The show’s tests of intellectual, athletic, and social prowess were no match for this Tiger Lacrosse and Sigma Chi fraternity alumnus and Big Apple litigator.
Fraser got hooked on the show when he quarantined with his now in-laws during the first days of the pandemic, while he was a student at the University of Michigan Law School. “When else am I going to get to have an experience where my background, who I am, what I've done in my life doesn't matter? Obviously it colors how you play the game, but getting to just be myself and learn from other people who are wildly different from me is the dream,” Fraser says.
That desire to learn from and connect with others is a skill that Fraser says he honed at Hampden-Sydney with the guidance of mentors like retired Senior Lecturer in Rhetoric Susan Robbins and Associate Professor of English Abigail Horne. “In the beginning of my academic career, I was hesitant to reciprocate the energy that my professors, coaches, and teammates were putting into me. Once I did, I realized that not only did I have people in my corner but also I could provide value in my own way. I started doing better in the classroom and on the field, and I saw tangible results from simply being a good friend,” Fraser explains. “I've continued to view life like that. You have to pour into the people around you and develop organic relationships. When I'm clicking with the people around me, that's when things are going the best for me. So my mantra on the island was people first. You have to connect with people before you can do anything else."
After earning a Bachelor of Arts in English from Hampden- Sydney, Fraser taught high school English before going on to earn his JD in 2021, serving as senior editor for the Michigan Law Review, placing third in the Campbell Moot Court Competition, arguing and winning a jury trial, and being awarded the Irving Stenn Jr. and Carl Gussin Memorial Prizes at graduation. Since then, Fraser has worked in various law firms and clerked for the Honorable R. Guy Cole Jr. in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
When he got to the island, he employed some of the same skills that he uses as a litigator to both charm and crush the competition. Being able to analyze situations and forecast his competitors’ next moves while quickly adjusting his own strategy in response was key to Fraser’s success.
Fraser’s preparation before he landed on the island included logic puzzles, a strenuous physical training regime, breathwork to keep him centered, and the creation of a clever backstory where Fraser was a teacher, not a lawyer. (Don’t worry, we checked with Dean Pantele, this is not a violation of the Honor Code, as Fraser was an English teacher once upon a time.)
Arguably, winning a million dollars wasn’t even the highlight of 2024 for Fraser. A week after filming wrapped, Fraser married his law school sweetheart, Maggie Turner, in a September 14, 2024, ceremony at Kings Family Vineyard in Charlottesville, Virginia. The bride, a graduate of University of Virginia undergrad and University of Michigan Law School, is an associate at Emery Celli.
Due to the show’s strict confidentiality, Fraser couldn’t even tell his friends that he was cast in the show, let alone when he was filming. So when he went off grid for a month right before his wedding, he went under the guise of a vacation, which raised some eyebrows.
“I'm sure my friends thought very lowly of me in that moment, but I made sure to do a lot of wedding planning before I left. And when I got back, we kicked it into overdrive, so I was not an absent fiancé,” Fraser laughs.
Just a week after the season 48 finale premiered, Fraser headed out to Fiji to film season 50 of Survivor, which will feature a full cast of returning players from previous seasons. Tune in February 2026 to see if he reigns supreme at the final tribunal once again.
Until then, Fraser is off the reality show and back to reality as an associate with Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello PC in New York.