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Comprehensive Campaign Is Extended

Governors Vote to Increase Goal

(Spring 2008 Newsletter)

Last fall at a meeting of the Board of Governors, Chairman Maria Grant reported on the College's $75 million Comprehensive Campaign that was begun in 2000. "This has been a very successful effort," she said, "and President Dillon and his staff are to be commended. We met our financial goal, and that is something to be proud of and for which to give thanks to God."

Chairman of the Board of Governors, Mrs. Maria Grant

The Comprehensive Campaign was conceived in 2000 and formally announced at the College's 30th anniversary celebration in 2001-just days after the earth-shattering events of 9/11. In these seven years, through the great generosity of the College's many friends and benefactors who have contributed to the Campaign, the College has built Sts. Peter and Paul Residence Hall, St. Monica Residence Hall, and St. Thomas Hall (the faculty office building). Now Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel is approaching completion. The campaign has, at the same time, provided for the yearly shortfall between tuition and operational needs, added to the endowment, and disbursed over $25 million in financial aid to deserving students who could not otherwise complete their education.

Post-9/11 Realities

At the time the Campaign was planned, the funding it sought would have covered not only the cost of a number of buildings on the campus and the College's financial aid and operating costs during the life of the Campaign, but it would have also substantially increased the College's endowment. The tragic and unforeseeable events of 9/11, however, provoked a change in the financial landscape, making it difficult to raise cash. Moreover, in subsequent years, the cost of many construction materials, for example, steel and concrete, skyrocketed.

As Dr. Dillon explains, "9/11 and the substantial rise in building costs have taken their toll on our Campaign efforts. Taking into account, however, the wills and trusts of which the College is a beneficiary, and combining that with the cash we have received during the life of the Campaign, we have met the $75 million goal of our Campaign. Yet, the reality is that there is still more to be done."

"For instance," he continues, "the cost of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel has substantially increased, so much so that we had to cut some features of the building such as the narthex and the crypt, and we scaled back on the plaster and other items. Finally, we reached the point at which we couldn't cut any more and still give our best to God."

The Governors Respond

The Governors, therefore, have chosen to extend the Comprehensive Campaign for another three years in order to raise an additional $25 million needed to finish funding the Chapel and other capital projects, and at the same time provide over $12 million in concurrent financial aid and operating needs.

Says Chairman Grant, "This is another daunting challenge, and I am so grateful to Dr. Dillon and his staff for their willingness to take it on. They will be building on the success of the past seven years. And members of the Board will also be actively engaged in introducing the College and its projects to new friends who will want to participate in its efforts to complete the campus while it also keeps its long-standing commitment that no deserving student will ever be turned away simply for financial reasons."

To contribute to Thomas Aquinas College's Comprehensive Campaign, please contact Vice President for Development, Mr. Quincy Masteller at 800-634-9797 or at qmasteller@thomasaquinas.edu.

-- Qtrly Newsletter, Spring 2008