GO FORTH
Onder ’82 Makes Inspired Go Forth Gift Donation Completes Funding for Dill Center for Academic Success Jim Onder ’82 takes a deep interest in St. Louis University High and has closely followed the progress of the Go Forth campaign. When he learned the Dill Center for Academic Success was just over $300,000 away from being fully funded, Onder moved into action. Onder appreciates how SLUH set “a kid from Affton'' like himself up for success. He is passionate about the strong academic program at SLUH and is grateful for how the school served his sons, Jim ’14 and Jack ’22. The Dill Center for Academic Success caught his particular interest because it has been named by his former Cub Scout Master at Seven Holy Founders, Tony Dill ’57, and his wife, Donna. Aware of the preference of the SLUH Board of Trustees to avoid debt for capital projects, Onder expediently made a gift of $300,000 to move the project forward. He wanted to mobilize construction so Tony and Donna Dill could have many years to enjoy the Center that bears their name.
Thomas R. Schilli Foundation Supports Chapel Renovation BY RYAN DOYLE
The Thomas R. Schilli Foundation recently donated $500,000 to the Go Forth campaign in support of renovating the chapel and creating the David J. and Kelly E. Laughlin Campus Ministry Center. The Thomas R. Schilli Foundation supports Jesuit schools and their partners, “guided by the Jesuit Universal Apostolic Preferences.” Jay Hammond, Ph.D. is the nephew of Tom Schilli ’64, an alumnus of Jesuit College Prep of Dallas, Professor of Theology at Saint Louis University and Board President and Executive Director of the Thomas R. Schilli Foundation. Schilli was deeply impacted by his SLUH education and “wanted to give back in a way that would help share the intellectual and spiritual gifts of an Ignatianinformed education,” Jay reflects of his uncle. The central location of the SLUH Chapel serves as a metaphor to understand just how meaningful Ignatian spirituality and the Catholic faith were to Tom Schilli.
“Tony was one of the few lawyers in our parish, and as such, he served as a role model to me and other aspiring lawyers,” says Onder, now an accomplished attorney himself and head of OnderLaw, LLC, the largest pharmaceutical and medical products mass tort firm in the country.
“The Ignatian formation [Tom] received at SLUH ensured that his compass would return him to the center,” Jay explains. “For Tom, the ‘center’ of SLUH connects to the halls, classrooms, labs, courts and fields where young men are trained to go forth into the world beyond campus, equipped to serve with incisive minds and discerning hearts.”
The J. Anthony ’57 and Donna M. Dill Center for Academic Success is a 6,300 square-foot space (in what was previously the old cafeteria) for School Counseling, College Counseling and Academic Administration. The space broke ground in March 2020 and will be completed this summer as a powerful new resource for Academic Excellence in 2023.
By renovating the Chapel and simultaneously creating the David J. and Kelly E. Laughlin Campus Ministry Center, SLUH will renew its most sacred space, make positive environmental improvements and reaffirm its commitment to both vocations and forming leaders of faith and excellence for the Church, and for the good of the world.
“With a life dedicated to community service,” says Onder, “Tony Dill truly is a Man for Others.” St. Louis U. High is grateful to all of the donors who have made generous gifts in support of Go Forth, the most successful campaign in the school’s history.
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See how Go Forth is transforming SLUH at sluh.org/goforth.
