College Exceeds Five-Year / $25 Million Campaign
Goal
(Fall 1998 Newsletter)
"They said it couldn't be done!"
When President Thomas Dillon told the Board
of Governors that he wanted to raise $25 million dollars in
five years to mark the 25th Anniversary of the founding of
Thomas Aquinas College, a stunned Board of Governors responded:
"How!?" Meeting the goal would mean nearly tripling the rate
of past gifts, a very tall order.
But the Board soon recovered from the shock
and not only met but surpassed that goal, ultimately raising
more than $27 million in gifts and pledges. Its efforts put
the College on its most secure financial footing ever.
The prayers, sacrifices and hard work of
thousands have gone into this success, names too numerous
to mention in this space. But any story of this tremendously
successful campaign must mention a few of our mainstays, foremost
among them Sir Daniel Donohue and Miss Rosemary Donohue and
the Dan Murphy Foundation, whose $5 million pledge to the
College's endowment is the largest gift the
College has ever received. What is more,
the Dan Murphy Foundation backed up its pledge by providing
five percent of the outstanding pledge for the Donohue Scholarship
fund each year.
Other top gifts were received from: The Fritz
B. Burns Foundation (construction of Serra Hall); the Andersen
Foundation (scholarships); Harry & Jean Browne (library,
landscaping, scholarships, and endowment); Jim & Judy
Barrett (scholarships); Francis J. Montgomery (scholarships);
and Thomas J. Sullivan (unrestricted). Major support for our
endowment came from William E. Simon, William Hannon, Catherine
Rottier and the late Henry Salvatori, as well as from Jack
& June Heffernan, Robert Monahan, James & Joelle Conn,
Walter & Donna Conn, and the Fletcher Jones and William
Randolph Hearst Foundations.
In every campaign, a principal concern is
maintaining the efforts already started while attempting new
initiatives. Our scholarship and operating fund was maintained
by generous gifts from the Helen V. Brach Foundation, the
Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, Frank Brucker, Mrs. George
Caldwell, the Jerome and Elvira Doolan Foundation, the late
Rev. James F. Foley, John & Barbara Friedrich, James &
Claudia Holman, the Jaquelin Hume Foundation, Carl & Margaret
Karcher, the Henry Luce Foundation, Ed & Betty Martin,
the Odell Fund, the John M. Olin Foundation, the Ralph M.
Parsons Foundation, the Effie Quay Trust, and Henry and Wendy
Teichert, as well as bequests from Michael Carver, Dr. Paul
Gaebelein, Robert E. Hannah and Adeline P. McDonough.
A main thrust of the campaign was to add
new buildings. Gifts from the Dan Murphy Foundation, as well
as the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, and the E.L. Wiegand Foundation,
helped complete and furnish St. Bernardine of Siena Library.
Grants for the new science building, Albertus
Magnus Hall, were received from Dr. & Mrs. William W.
Smith, Henry & Carol Zeiter, and the Weingart Foundation.
A grant toward a new women's dormitory came from Virginia
Piper. Gifts for the chapel and library were received from
Nicholas Bez and from William & Joan Clark.
A specially gratifying aspect of the campaign
was the contribution of our alumni, who are now making their
way in the world. Some 603 alumni participated in the campaign
and contributed $633,694.
Words cannot adequately express our gratitude
to all those who have given of their substance so that students
may receive a genuine education in timeless truth. As a special
thank-you, Christmas Midnight Mass will be offered this year
in the College Chapel for the intentions of all those whose
generosity went to make the 25th Anniversary Campaign such
a success.
|
