By Peter Mullin and Angela Schmitz

On a weekend when thousands of alumni will turn to CSB/SJU, officials will announce how much graduates have donated.

A report of the SJU capital campaign will be announced at the Alumni Association Homecoming banquet tomorrow.

“We’ve been very impressed with the response we’ve received, ” Associate Vice President of Development John Young said. “We’ve seen gifts of a magnitude we’ve never seen before. ”

Young points to the more than 20,000 volunteers and donors for the campaign’s success.

“One of our goals was to create this group of volunteers who are essentially an extension of our staff, ” Young said.

The campaign aims to strengthen the foundation of the university and abbey.

The campaign will directly impact students, Young said.

“We have a vision to significantly increase the endowment at St. John’s for scholarships and academics, ” Young said.

As of Wednesday, the SJU “One Generation to the Next” capital campaign had announced they’ve raised $144 million of the $150 million goal.

CSB campaign

CSB Vice President of Institutional Advancement Stuart Lang said their $80 million campaign is going well.

The “Our Place in the World” campaign has already established $72 million.

Lang said there are still 21 months left of the campaign, and over 60 percent of graduates have donated anywhere from one dollar to $1.5 million.

Director of Annual Giving Jill Dalger Brunner points out the advantages of the campaign.

“A campaign gives all of us time to focus on improving the College of St. Benedict and raising it’s profile, ” Brunner said.

The campaign benefits four areas directly.

The annual giving program, endowment for scholarships, seven centers of academic distinction, and renovations to the Benedicta Arts Center will, and have, benefited from the campaign, Dalger Brunner said.

So far, the strongest supporters of the CSB campaign have been Tom Petters and Benedict and Dorothy Gorecki, she said.

Petters contributed $5.3 million to the Center for Global Education.

The Gorecki’s have donated $3.5 million to the Gorecki Dining Center and $2.2 million to the BAC.

Filed under: News by Justin Roth