November 11, 2008
As
nearly 50 members of The McCallen Society gathered in St. Thomas
More Church on Friday, November 7, 2008 for the concelebrated
Annual Recognition Mass they were reminded by principal celebrant
Rev. Kevin G. Creagh, C.M '91SVC, '04PD, Associate Vice President
for International Sites and Alumni Chaplain that “Today we are
called to be a people who are good and kind to each other.
The poor are our keys to heaven. They will bring us to
God.”
Photo Gallery
Following Mass the members enjoyed lunch in the faculty Dining
Room of Sun Yat Sen Hall where they were repeatedly thanked for
their generosity over the past year. “Last year, gifts from
planned giving totaled nearly $2.3 million, much of it from
McCallen Society members”, noted Robert D. Wile '99SVC, Vice
President and Chief of Staff, Office of the President and Chief
Advancement Officer. “You need only to step outside onto
campus to see what your support has accomplished. It’s in the
faces of the students who wouldn’t be here without your help.
It’s in the buildings that we couldn’t construct were it not for
you.”
St. John’s University President Rev. Donald J. Harrington, C.M.
expressed his appreciation to the members for “…investing in the
future of St. John’s. You believed in St. John’s and you have
invested in our future.”
Fr. Harrington noted the many accomplishments that have taken
place at St. John’s during the past 12 months, including the
unprecedented increase in new student applications and enrollment,
the globalization initiatives resulting in the expansion of the
University’s Rome campus and the opening of a location in Paris,
the new construction taking place on campus and the tremendous
success of the recent 11th Annual President’s Dinner. “I’m so
encouraged to see how many people believe in the St. John’s story”,
he said.
Guests were quick to express their affection for St. John’s and
were pleased to be members of The McCallen Society. “My father
graduated from the College of Business Administration, which makes
me a double son of St. John’s”, noted John Bleimaier '75L.
“My father was an accountant and I’m a lawyer. St. John’s
gave my father and I the training to enter these learned
professions. I feel very privileged to be able to give back
to this wonderful university.”
Evelyn Paola '57Ed, '59GEd also credits the influence of her
family for her lifetime association with St. John’s. “I love
St. John’s”, she said. “We have been a St. John’s family
since my brothers attended in the 1940s. I have just loved
St. John’s for all those years and owe a debt of gratitude for my
career in education and for the Vincentian values that I absorbed
here. Those values made a real difference in my
classroom.”
Although not an alumnus of St. John’s, James Audino is one of
the newest members of The McCallen Society. He acknowledges
that it was his friend Nancy McHugh '50UC, herself a member of The
McCallen Society who first interested him in becoming a member
himself. “I’m not a graduate of St. John’s”, he remarked “but
thanks to Nancy [McHugh] I decided to become a McCallen member
myself. It’s a lovely organization. I really believe in
St. John’s mission and I’m happy that I can do something to help
it.”
Reflecting on how the generosity of The McCallen Society members
ultimately benefits the students of St. John’s, Christine Bentz
'09Ed noted that “It’s pretty awesome to see people who are so
committed to giving to the University, whether they’re alumni or
not. As a student, I’m very, very grateful to them for what
they do for us.”
Named in honor of former University treasurer Rev. Thomas J.
McCallen, C.M., The McCallen Society was established in 1998 to
recognize a core group of esteemed donors who have remembered the
University in their estate plans.