Mike Gilhooly ’88 Takes on New Position as Director of Alumni Giving

By Tracy Edwards

SINCE STEPPING INTO HIS NEW ROLE as Director of Alumni Giving this past January, Mike Gilhooly ’88 has been laser focused on strengthening alumni engagement at Loyola High School, with new ideas and programming to create an ongoing energetic Cub spirit across multiple generations of alums.

One way Mr. Gilhooly is creating momentum for alumni involvement is through the reimagined Class Leaders program, what he considers the “backbone” of alumni connection.

“We have one of the strongest high school networks in the country,” explains Mr. Gilhooly. “Part of my job is to make sure the infrastructure connects everyone.”

The goal of the program is not only to encourage financial contributions to grow class funds as outlined in the long established Leavey Challenge, but to also develop community among alums by promoting participation in existing Loyola programs and events. Class Leaders will serve as point persons to disseminate relevant information to each class, i.e. reunion dates and class member milestones as well as updates on how their class funds have directly impacted current students through scholarship. This past year, alumni class funds gifted close to $6 million in financial aid to eligible Cubs.

A proud member of Loyola’s class of 1988, Mr. Gilhooly went on to study English and economics at UCLA, and play a season of Bruin football. After college graduation, he pursued a career in finance and wealth management, but continued to maintain a relationship with Loyola, serving on the Cubs’ football coaching staff for most of the past 34 seasons. In 2017, Mr. Gilhooly joined Loyola’s Advancement team as director of Planned Giving. The married father of two currently has a son in Loyola’s freshman class. His daughter is a junior at Sacred Heart High School. “I’m humbled and grateful that I get to do something I really care about,” emphasizes Mr. Gilhooly. “We have a giant Cub family that includes over 16,000 alumni. Part of my job is to embrace them and build bonds that encourage a commitment to share their time, talent and treasure with our current Cubs.”

“Part of my job is to embrace them [alumni] and build bonds that encourage a commitment to share their time, talent and treasure with our current Cubs.”

Adds Loyola’s Vice President for Advancement Alexy Coughlin, “Loyola creates a lifelong foundation for our students and we are truly fortunate that Mike’s long history with our school and his passion for our mission give him a unique perspective on the incredible potential of our alumni programs.”