Eighteen men,  some over  70 and some younger than 30, sat across a stage in Conlin Auditorium Nov. 10. All of them, alumni of the Hive,  came back to talk about giving back.

Director of Alumni and Donor Relations Candace Bradsher said, “ Donor Appreciation day is when alumni come back to the school and talk about why they give back and to tell the students that they should give back too.”

Students were reminded that their tuition is mostly paid by donations from alumni and other donors and organizations. Each student here costs around $18,000 to educate, but students who pay full tuition only pay $9,500. And only fifteen percent of students pay full tuition. The rest all receive financial aid from the school.

To help pay for this aid and everything else at St. Benedict’s , the advancement office raised around $5 million last year with $1million coming from Alumni according to the Director of Annual Giving Didier Jean-Baptiste ’86.

The money raised by the alumni is led by the efforts of class agents who contact their classmates to advise them to give back to the school. The alumni who show up on Donor Appreciation day are all class agents. Many of them have been here all three times the school has held the event.

Class agent Tom Kilkenny ‘61  was one of the older to attend while Dan Sheehan ‘08 was one of the youngest and both said they love doing it.

Mr. Sheehan said, “ I looked around and realized this place was special, and that’s why I come back and give money. St. Benedict’s will always have a special place in my heart.”

Ms. Bradsher said the goal of the day is to get current students to keep Benedict’s in their hearts – and to continue the tradition of alumni giving and express gratitude to alumni donors.

Click this Photo to see more of Donor Appreciation Day

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