“When his fellow founders chose Dr. Ronald P. McArthur as the College’s first president, they made him and his wife, Marilyn, intellectual and spiritual parents to the students of Thomas Aquinas College,” says former President Michael F. McLean. “Ron and Marilyn believed that the Faith must be handed on through more than just books: It must be lived in a community. They sought not only to form students’ minds, but also to foster deep and genuine friendships based on the love of truth.”
It is therefore fitting that the College created an endowment — designed to aid the many students who are the McArthurs’ intellectual and spiritual children — in the couple’s honor. The Ronald & Marilyn McArthur Cardinal Newman Scholarship Endowment carries on the McArthurs’ lifelong work.
“The College admits qualified students regardless of their ability to pay, and thus we are challenged to raise millions of dollars each year to balance our budget,” explains Dr. McLean. “Our endowment is the key to the College’s long-term stability, but it currently meets less than 20 percent of our students’ annual need. Our wish is both to grow the endowment and to create a permanent memorial to Ron and Marilyn’s years of dedication.”
The fund also shares a name with a saintly patron to whom Dr. McArthur, in his later years, had a deepening devotion, St. John Henry Newman. “Ron had long known that a thorough knowledge of Scripture must be the foundation of future theological study — indeed, our freshmen begin with a year-long reading of the Bible — and he was drawn to Newman by the Cardinal’s own deep love for Scripture and the wisdom of his commentary,” says Dr. McLean. “As we discussed plans with Marilyn for an endowed scholarship fund, she asked that the name direct recipients to this teacher in whom Ron found so much spiritual insight.”
Please prayerfully consider a gift to support this endowment, and as you consider the College’s future, please be as generous as you can. “Every gift to the McArthur–Newman Endowment is an investment in the College that the McArthurs helped to found and in the students who are their legacy,” says Dr. McLean. “Your generosity now will truly bear fruit for many years to come.”