A Tribute to Dr. Dillon's Tireless Efforts

"A Tribute to Dr. Dillon's Tireless Efforts"

Dan Murphy Foundation Makes Lead Gift in New $7 Million Capital Campaign

(Winter 2010 Newsletter)

In what is certainly the grandest tribute to Dr. Thomas E. Dillon to date, on December 1, 2009, the Dan Murphy Foundation of Los Angeles approved a $2 million grant to Thomas Aquinas College in honor of the College's late president, who died in an automobile accident last spring. "The trustees of the Dan Murphy Foundation are pleased to make this contribution in memory of Dr. Dillon," says Richard A. Grant, the foundation's president, "in recognition of his great achievements on behalf of Thomas Aquinas College."

According to Dr. Michael F. McLean, the College's recently appointed president, the grant will be used as a lead gift in the College's new capital campaign. The campaign will have as its primary goal the completion of all funding for Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel, Thomas Aquinas College's glorious new House of God, which Dr. Dillon spent a dozen years laboring to make a reality. "The Chapel project was dear to Tom's heart," says Dr. McLean. "We are so grateful that the Dan Murphy Foundation would choose to honor him in this way, augmenting its initial $10 million lead gift for the Chapel project."

Richard A. Grant, president of the Dan Murphy Foundation, is shown here with Thomas Aquinas College Chaplain Rev. Cornelius Buckley, S.J., touring Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel during its construction in 2007. The Dan Murphy Foundation has given the lead gift of $2 million in a new capital campaign to complete all funding for the Chapel project.

The new capital campaign, slated to run for 18 months and raise $7 million, will conclude on June 30, 2011. "During that time, officials of the College plan to approach old friends and new, seeking major gifts for the Chapel project" says Vice President for Development John Quincy Masteller. As Mr. Grant observes, "It is hoped the foundation's grant will be an impetus to complete the College's capital campaign as a tribute to Dr. Dillon's tireless efforts in building the Thomas Aquinas campus. This beautiful chapel exemplifies Tom Dillon's devotion to the Roman Catholic Church and Thomas Aquinas College."

The Dan Murphy Foundation's extraordinary gift reflects its trustees' enduring commitment to the College's mission and their conviction that the College will continue to thrive in the years ahead. "The foundation's trustees make the contribution in the confidence that Thomas Aquinas College, under the leadership of new president Dr. Michael McLean, will attain new levels of academic excellence as an institution devoted to Catholic liberal education," says Mr. Grant.

Just as Dr. Dillon envisioned Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel as being the crown jewel of the Thomas Aquinas College campus, the Dan Murphy Foundation's generous grant to complete funding for the Chapel has become the crown jewel among the nearly 300 gifts that have been given to the College in Dr. Dillon's memory. These smaller contributions have totaled close to $250,000.

"In the history of the College, it is unprecedented to receive so many memorial gifts for a single person, let alone so many donations of such great value," observes Dr. McLean. "The Dan Murphy Foundation is leading the way in a beautiful, far-reaching effort among those who share Dr. Dillon's dedication to Catholic liberal education to fund the Chapel into which he poured his heart, while aiding the College to which he devoted his life."

-- Qtrly Newsletter, Winter 2010