PHILANTHROPY REPORT 2 0 2 4 - 2 0 2 5
OF YOUR GENEROSITY IMPACT THE
TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF PHILANTHROPY
Dear friends and supporters of St. Thomas,
Something special is happening at St. Thomas, and you’re part of it.
Across every corner of our university, there is remarkable momentum. In our colleges and schools, faculty and students are pursuing bold ideas that honor our Catholic mission while preparing graduates to meet the challenges of tomorrow. Your philanthropy is fueling this momentum. Scholarships remain at the heart of our mission. Every gift that eases tuition costs opens doors for students who might otherwise not have the opportunity to experience a St. Thomas education. Thanks to the generosity of donors like you, more students each year are able to discern their vocations and develop into the ethical leaders our world needs. This spirit of generosity is fueling exciting progress across all academic areas. The Morrison Family College of Health is expanding its undergraduate and professional programming to meet the growing demand for compassionate healthcare professionals. A bold and vigorous commitment to the arts, rooted in St. Thomas Aquinas’s understanding of beauty and truth, creates new opportunities for students and faculty that enrich our liberal arts tradition. And across disciplines, philanthropic investment helps us attract talented faculty who create educational opportunities where students thrive. The transformation of our south campus, including our new Schoenecker Center and Lee & Penny Anderson Arena, is a visible testament to what we can accomplish together. These spaces are already bringing our community together in new ways – fostering relationships, inspiring pride in St. Thomas, and demonstrating the vision that will shape St. Thomas for generations to come. Every gift, of any size, moves us closer to our shared aspirations. Whether through annual support, giving to an endowment, legacy giving through a will or trust, or participation in Tommie Give Day, your generosity matters and makes a difference.
Thank you for believing in St. Thomas and for joining us on this journey.
Rob Vischer President
Erik Thurman Vice President for Advancement
YOUR PHILANTHROPY IN ACTION: JULY 1, 2024-JUNE 30, 2025
THE UNIVERSITY’S ENDOWMENT
ENDOWMENT GROWTH* Fiscal year July 1, 2024 — June 30, 2025
1,097 2,561 SCHOLARSHIPS FROM ANNUAL GIFTS SCHOLARSHIPS FROM DONOR-FUNDED ENDOWMENTS WHO GAVE ALUMNI 49% PARENTS/FAMILIES 26.8% FRIENDS OF ST. THOMAS 17.6% ORGANIZATIONS 6.6%
$113 MILLION IN GIFTS
10,694 BENEFACTORS
Endowment Dollars (in millions)
$9.1
$6
MILLION RAISED FOR ANNUAL SCHOLARSHIPS
MILLION RAISED FOR ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIPS
What is an endowment? Over the years, benefactors to St. Thomas have given to the university’s endowment, a collection of hundreds of permanent, donor-directed gifts. An endowment is designed to have a spending portion – a percentage of endowment earnings that is used each year. St. Thomas utilizes its internal Investment Office to implement the investment policy and manage the endowment investments, including any earnings above the spending portion. The Investment Committee of the Board of Trustees oversees the overall endowment. Most of the gifts in the endowment have already been allocated and their use is restricted based on the donors’ decisions. The most common allocations for endowment funds are scholarships, endowed faculty positions, student support programs, and academic excellence.
WHERE GIFTS GO COLLEGES/SCHOOLS 69.5% ATHLETICS 18.4% SCHOLARSHIPS 8.3% OTHER 3.8%
15
2,579 FIRST-TIME DONORS IN 2024-25
GIFTS OF $1 MILLION AND UP
* The St. Thomas portfolio is invested to maintain the long-term purchasing power of the endowment and to provide a sustainable rate of spending to support the university.
This gift will have a powerful impact on future generations of St. Thomas students – Rob Vischer, President
PHILANTHROPY IS POWERING ST. THOMAS!
Powerful support for academic excellence and scholarships means the student experience is becoming richer and more varied than ever before.
The Schoeneckers Foundation created a substantial endowed scholarship fund that will support hundreds of St. Thomas students each year. This incredible and timely gift enables the university to reduce the tuition burden as it recruits students from around the nation who are well-matched with St. Thomas.
John Monahan ’73 gifted $20 million to support arts programming, faculty, and student scholarships. This visionary gift enhances the university’s liberal arts education and further elevates St. Thomas as a leading national Catholic university. It is the most significant gift for arts education in the university’s 140-year history.
“Guy ’49 and Barbara Schoenecker truly understood the transformative power of education. For more than 50 years, the Schoeneckers helped build and enhance the formative St. Thomas experience. Their legacy lives on through this life-changing gift – it will transform the lives of Tommies, their families and communities for generations.” – Rob Vischer, President “My father was tremendously successful, and he never forgot his obligation to share his blessings. He got his start and inspiration at St. Thomas. He believed in the value of a St. Thomas education and was proud to help the university flourish and extend its impact.” – Larry Schoenecker, President of the Schoeneckers Foundation
“We enrich ourselves through the arts, and the benefits accrue throughout our lives the more we spend time with them – whether it’s music, theater, art, and art history or the written word.” – John Mohahan ‘73
“It’s an investment in our future, giving us tools, spaces, and resources to create, collaborate, and innovate like never before.” – Rachel Clement ’26
An anonymous alumni donor gave a $25.5 million gift to help advance interdisciplinary and intercultural education — as well as the future of athletics — at St. Thomas.
Drs. John and Susan Morrison responded to the growing demand for compassionate, culturally competent nurses with a gift to outfit a laboratory classroom in Schoenecker Center for nursing education.
“A liberal arts education at St. Thomas transforms how students see themselves and their relationship to the world. Today’s global
challenges cut across disciplines and cultures, and so must the solutions. This gift will help equip generations of Tommies to solve those challenges and pursue meaningful careers and purposeful lives.” – Dr. Bill Tolman, Al and Mary Agnes McQuinn Distinguished Chair and Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
“The Susan S. Morrison Learning and Simulation Lab will be a place where students
learn to care for people, not just treat illness, and where our Catholic values are lived daily.” – Dr. MayKao Hang, Morrison Family Distinguished Chair and Founding Dean
BUILDING ON A TRADITION OF GENEROSITY
INSPIRED BY GIVING TO INSPIRE OTHERS
Last year, Tommie Give Day – the university’s annual day of giving – celebrated 11 years. The gifts to St. Thomas increased 10-fold from $408,745 in 2015 to $4,321,096 in 2025. Gifts came from all 50 states and around the world including Nigeria, Spain, Germany, Norway and Panama.
If you ever received a phone call from a St. Thomas student asking for a gift, they were part of the Engagement Center. This is a popular option for on-campus employment where students do more than make calls – they learn about the dual powers of philanthropy and gratitude. For example, Engagement Center students call every Tommie Give Day donor to offer a personal “thank you.” They also call alumni to talk about current events at St. Thomas and to ask for gifts for the Annual Fund, which support the most urgent needs on campus and among the student body.
BY THE NUMBERS:
• 3,126 donors gave in 2025 • 1,000 Tommie Give Day donors (17%) in 2025 made their first gift • Nearly all class years 1955-2025 participated • St. Thomas student clubs increased their dollars raised by more than 300% over 2024 • 1,124 donors earned Tommie Choppers and 289 donated their mittens to Catholic Charities Twin Cities
SMALL GIFTS. MIGHTY IMPACT. 30+ YEARS STRONG
Jack Richtman ’48 is one dedicated Tommie. He is a World War II veteran who attended St. Thomas on the GI Bill, earned a degree in chemistry, and last year, he turned 101. Richtman’s life is remarkable in many ways: His military service: Four years in Army Air Force in Europe, including the end of the war; 32 years of marriage to his high school sweetheart, Karwyn, and their 12 children together;
TOMMIE GIVE DAY 2025 SUPPORTERS:
after Karwyn died, a marriage to Mary Perkins, who had eight children of her own, which lasted 33 years; 52 grandchildren and 52 great-grandchildren. What a life! In the category of smaller feats, Richtman makes a gift to St. Thomas every year, and he has done so for more than 30 years. Thank you, Jack, for your dedication to St. Thomas. We are grateful for you, and we wish you well in your 102nd year of life!
Current Students, Faculty and Staff 8.6%
Alumni 49.4%
Friends of St. Thomas and Corporate Affinity Groups 19.4%
Parents 22.6%
Jack Richtman ’48
LEE & PENNY ANDERSON ARENA OPENS
THANK YOU
Brought to life by philanthropy, Lee & Penny Anderson Arena opened with the St. Thomas women’s and men’s hockey teams facing off against Providence College on Oct. 24. Fans filled the 253,000-square-foot hockey and basketball arena on St. Thomas’ south campus in St. Paul. The arena opened two-and-a-half years after Lee and Penny Anderson made their transformative gift of $75 million, the single largest monetary gift ever given to a university in Minnesota. “This facility will provide a transformational experience for our student-athletes as we continue to push forward as a Division I institution, while serving as an important asset for economic development and a new landmark for community engagement.” – Dr. Phil Esten, Vice President and Director, Athletics
Thank you for being partners in our mission, for believing in our students, and for helping us build a bolder, brighter future together.
SEE THE DONOR HONOR ROLL.
MAKE A GIFT TODAY!
BRIGHT FUTURES BECAUSE OF YOUR GIFTS.
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