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Would You Step Up?

Giving back is a cornerstone of the Judeo-Christian belief system. Many Christians strongly subscribe to tithing 10% of total income, although they usually belong to dominations other than Catholic. Muslims in good standing also give back a sizable portion of their annual net worth. Our education in the Catholic school system was truly a blessing of those times and led to pretty good lives for most of us. Now it's time to return some of our good fortune to St. Mary's when our alma mater is experiencing financial stress due to the general decline of the Catholic educational system.

The St. Mary's budget while we attended benefitted from the large number of Marianist vocations during the 1950's, but since then lay teachers and coaches have steadily replaced the teaching brothers and priests that comprised the staff of our day. As a result, St. Mary's tuition inflation has significantly outstripped the CPI, although it remains less than St. Louis University High, DeSmet, St. John Vianney and Chaminade.

We recently learned that our sister school, St. Elizabeth's Academy, will close after the 2013 school year. St. John's Grade School recently avoided closure by painfully raising $240,000 at the last minute. Graduates of our era who attended McBride, De Andreas and Augustinian witnessed sad closings of their alma maters years ago. The Archdiocese requires its churches and schools to be financially viable, and 108 parishes were closed or consolidated in recent years in the greater metropolitan area. St. Mary's is not on anyone's list, but if our alma mater is to exist in the years to come, it must also remain financially viable.

In the late 1990's, the Class of 1961 Scholarship Fund was instituted, but we have not done a great job of advertising it to our classmates. Many have donated generously to St. Mary's general fund but not specifically to the 1961 Scholarship Fund. And so the main reason for this communiqué is to encourage each of you to give all you can to St. Mary's and particularly our scholarship fund. Currently, the fund has approximately $32,000 and has received about $8,500 over the last four years from a handful of classmates. Now we encourage all classmates to improve our track record by making a one-time or periodic contribution to the Class of 1961 Scholarchip Fund. See the preceding announcement for instructions.

And since we are all reaching "a certain age," perhaps you should consider St. Mary's in your estate. Contact me, Terry Weatherby, for further information.

Remember, your appreciation for discipline, respect for teamwork, thirst for future knowledge, and your concept of the difference between right and wrong did not come from a memory pillow.

Terry M Weatherby
The St. Mary's Class of 1961 Reunion Committee