BUILDING ON FAITH
CAMPAIGN FINAL REPORT
THE THOMAS AND SELBY PRINCE BUILDING
B U I L D I N G O N FA I T H
CAMPAIGN FINAL REPORT
Ave Maria University launched the Building on Faith Comprehensive Campaign in the fall of 2013 to raise $60 million in cash contributions to fund strategic priorities of the University. Five years later, the University is celebrating the achievement of this significant goal in conjunction with the opening of the Thomas and Selby Prince Building. Funds raised for the Prince Building helped Ave Maria not only achieve its ambitious goal, which was based strictly on cash receipts and did not include pledges, but provided a world-class facility supporting some of the highest priorities of the University. The Prince Building is a 38,000 square foot facility that includes the 400-seat O’Bryan Performance Hall, the Donahue Family Blackbox Theatre, the nursing program and laboratories, the Mother Teresa Museum, the Enrollment Office, classrooms and faculty offices.
T O TA L F U N D S R A I S E D Over 11,000 donors made over 55,000 gifts to the campaign. Trustees of the University contributed over $20 million towards the strategic objectives of the University. A broad base of friends, parents, and alumni have helped make an Ave Maria education possible through their dedication to Our Lady’s University.
SCHOLARSHIPS
$38,000,000
OTHER PRIORITIES $2,000,000 MOTHER TERESA PROJECT
$2,000,000
ACADEMIC PROGRAMS
$5,000,000
THE THOMAS AND SELBY PRINCE BUILDING
$13,000,000
OVER $60,000,000
SCHOLARSHIPS
OVER 1500 STUDENTS RECEIVED MORE THAN
$38 MILLION
IN SCHOLARSHIPS The greatest priority of the University is providing scholarships that can close the gap for highly qualified students who would like to attend Ave Maria, but whose family cannot afford it. Almost every Ave Maria Student receives scholarship funding to attend the University.
Sarah Seghers felt sheer peace walking onto Ave’s campus and meeting the students. Sarah first heard about Ave Maria through her older sister who graduated in 2010. She was touched at how devoted the school is to Mother Teresa and struck by the incredible programs offered. Sarah felt that Ave Maria was where the Lord was calling her to live out the next four years of her life, however, she recognized the fact that she could not attend Ave Maria unless a miracle occurred. Although the University is extremely affordable compared to other private universities, the financial strain would have been too much for her family to handle. So, Sarah prayed. She prayed a novena to Our Lady begging to let her go to Ave Maria, a place that seemed almost a dream. The day the novena ended, Sarah received an email from the University informing her that she was chosen to be a recipient of a private, named scholarship funded by two extremely generous individuals. That day, Sarah cried tears of joy because she just could not believe that someone would be so generous, and because she was going to be able to attend Ave Maria University.
ACADEMIC PROGRAMS THE BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN NURSING (BSN) Mother Teresa’s commitment to the poor and unwanted included medical care, which led to her becoming a nurse. In the spirit of Mother’s commitment to healing and caring for the sick, the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Program at Ave Maria University launched in 2015. The curriculum instills the importance of administering compassion for the sick and the suffering, and respecting life, from conception to natural death. The small faculty-to-student ratio enhances learning and the program incorporates a “fundamentals and simulation lab” with advanced equipment and resources. Local healthcare organizations and agencies within the Southwest Florida community offer nursing students a wealth of clinical experiences. The Thomas and Selby Prince Building will be the permanent home of “Mother’s” nursing program. Nursing major, Michelle Zettel tried evacuating during Hurricane Irma in 2017, but by providence, her flight was canceled and she had to move from her home in Ave Maria to the dorms for shelter. She and two other nursing students emailed President Towey’s assistant informing them that they would be available through the storm. Shortly after, Michelle received a text message saying that there would be eight patients from Immokalee arriving to campus and their help was in fact needed. Michelle and the other nursing students examined the patients before the storm and assessed the situation to determine what the patients could do on their own and what they need for medication. “Our biggest struggle was the language barrier,” Michelle recalls, “Seven of the eight patients spoke only Creole, with one speaking little English. We used her as a translator.” With the training Michelle and the other nursing students had received, they were able to write down all the necessary medications for the Resident Director of the dorm who would provide care to the patients during the storm.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP INITIATIVE The Entrepreneurship Initiative at Ave Maria University launched in the spring of 2018. This initiative assists students of all majors in living their faith as they create value and serve others. Student members benefit from acquiring life skills in the “science of association,” which includes project-creation, problem-solving, and collective action, all of which are essential to leadership, prosperity, a life of service, and good citizenship. The larger community also benefits from the intentional creation of social capital and the spirit of entrepreneurship fostered in these students.
THE THOMAS AND SELBY PRINCE BUILDING The Thomas and Selby Prince Building brings much needed space for the arts, sciences, teaching and administrative offices to the campus of Our Lady’s University. The 38,000 square foot facility includes the 400-seat O’Bryan Performance Hall, 125-seat Donahue Family Blackbox Theatre, the nursing program, the Mother Teresa Museum, the Enrollment Office, classrooms and faculty offices. The building was launched in dedication to Mother Teresa and is crowned with a sacred mosaic of St. John Paul II and St. Teresa of Calcutta on its exterior, an image celebrating the inspiration both of these modern saints provide to the University. The building is a vibrant place for Ave Maria University students and the community to gather, allowing the University to host activities and events in ways previously not possible on campus. The investment of the Princes and many others in this incredible new facility that enlivens so many dimensions of the life of the University will pay dividends for Ave Maria students for generations to come.
MOTHER TERESA PROJECT The Mother Teresa Project (MTP) is producing graduates who convey her compassion and teachings to the next generation and spread peace in the same manner as she did—one person at a time. Through the MTP, students immerse themselves in the spirituality and life of Mother Teresa through her writings and participating in service work locally and internationally alongside the Missionaries of Charity (MCs). Ave Maria students perform thousands of hours of volunteer service and mission work annually, both locally in the neighboring farm town of Immokalee and across the globe in countries such as Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Uganda, and Mexico, as a part of the Mother Teresa Project. Bernadette Hartney, a biochemistry major from Ave Maria, had the opportunity to participate in a 5-day mission trip to Haiti led by Mary Towey, wife of President Towey. “Going to Haiti opened my eyes in many different ways,” says Bernadette, “I had never seen such poverty and state of living in my life as we experienced in Haiti.” During this mission trip, students worked alongside MCs at their compound in Port-au-Prince, served in the Children’s Home, and accompanied the sisters as they traveled to other cities, tending to men, women and children in need. “The joy emanating from the MCs was contagious,” Bernadette continues, “and it was truly a gift to be able to share in their joy by serving others.”
For more information, contact the Office of Advancement 239-280-2586 I advancement@avemaria.edu
