Saint John's donors give over $2.9 million, becoming the largest Student Fund in school history

The 2016-17 SJU Student Fund campaign, which ended June 30, raised $2,903,148 for current scholarships. This surpassed SJU’s goal of $2.9 million, becoming the largest Student Fund in school history.

"It’s a great feeling to hit your number. It’s even better when you break a record. Saint John’s donors broke records this year, and the big winners were the students," said Mike Erpenbach '80, president of the Saint John's Alumni Association in 2016-17.

5,462 donors supported the Student Fund, including 4,480 Saint John's alumni.

"I’d like to personally thank the hundreds of class volunteers whose outreach made this success possible,” Erpenbach said. “Because of their efforts, we can make sure that Saint John’s is accessible for today’s students just like the monks made it accessible for us.”

“In particular, I’d like to recognize the classes who led in participation, donors, dollars and Fellows,” Erpenbach said.

Reunion classes celebrating in 2017 (the 5^th through the 60^th reunions) contributed $572,921 toward the Student Fund, from 877 donors.

The Class of 1967, which celebrated its 50th reunion, had a 40% participation rate – the highest of all reunion classes. In addition to its $32,983 in Student Fund support, the Class of 1967 gave further gifts and future commitments, for a total 50th reunion class gift of $649,892. This includes $345,150 to establish the Class of 1967 Endowed Scholarship for students at Saint John’s. At the Reunion Rally, the class presented a cumulative lifetime giving total to date of over $5.4 million.

The 45^th reunion Class of 1972 had 107 Student Fund donors in 2016-17, the most of all reunion classes.

The 35th reunion Class of 1982 gave the greatest amount to the Student Fund, totaling $98,285.

The Class of 1997, in its 15^th reunion, had the largest increase in donors over the previous year, with 15 new donors.

Among all classes, the Class of 1970 again gave the largest amount to the Student Fund, totaling $149,030. The Class of 1982’s total of $98,285 was second highest, followed by the Classes of 1963 and 1962 who gave $97,775 and $97,310, respectively.

Three classes had more than 100 Student Fund donors: the Classes of 1972, 1969 and 1981.

The Classes of 1964, 1981 and 1982 tied for the most Fellows Society donors, each with 26 classmates giving $1,000 or more to the Student Fund.

The Alumni Association Board of Directors had a 100% participation rate in the Student Fund for the sixth consecutive year. The 42-member board gave $39,490 to the Student Fund.

The University’s Board of Trustees also had 100% participation. Together the 30 members of the board contributed $203,181 in Student Fund support.

Current parents of Saint John's students showed record support during the 2015-16 fiscal year. 353 current families contributed $85,966 to the Student Fund. These current parents raised nearly $8,500 more than last year.

The Student Fund supports scholarships for current Saint John's students. During the 2016-17 academic year, 98% of students received scholarships or financial aid. 100 percent of Student Fund gifts go directly to supporting scholarships.