{"id":229,"date":"2014-09-24T20:28:29","date_gmt":"2014-09-24T20:28:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sths.org\/4500Forever\/?p=229"},"modified":"2020-01-23T09:52:03","modified_gmt":"2020-01-23T09:52:03","slug":"mystery-alumni-6-million-challenge-4500forever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sths.org\/4500Forever\/2014\/09\/24\/mystery-alumni-6-million-challenge-4500forever\/","title":{"rendered":"Mystery Alumni Donor Declares $6 Million Challenge for 4500Forever"},"content":{"rendered":"

He is a man highly regarded not only for his sharp business mind but also for his deep devotion to his Alma Mater.<\/span><\/p>\n

He temporarily remains in the shadows after emphatically emerging as the catalyst to invigorate the most ambitious capital campaign in the 114-year history of his school.<\/span><\/p>\n

He is an anonymous alumni-donor whose physical profile is not nearly as important for the next seven weeks as his pledge – offering to match, dollar for dollar, gifts between September 19 and November 14 up to $6 million. <\/span><\/p>\n

He is suddenly the driving force behind the No Substitute For Victory Challenge, thrusting 4500Forever to a triumphant conclusion.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cVery seldom in life do you have the opportunity to make a real difference,\u201d the unnamed donor said. \u00a0\u201cAnd this campaign needed someone to step up. \u00a0How are they going to close this deal this year unless someone stepped up big? And I said to myself, \u2018I can do it.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As St. Thomas approached the one-year anniversary of securing the final-hour $60 million final bid for the adjacent HISD property, the 4500Forever capital campaign stood at $31.4 million.<\/span><\/p>\n

The unnamed donor had monitored the incremental monetary climb, been a consistent St. Thomas financial contributor for years but never approached a commitment of this multi-million dollar\u00a0<\/span>proportion.<\/span><\/p>\n

He offers not a gift from generational wealth but rather a donation inspired through self-examination, the generosity from an <\/span>every man<\/span><\/i> out of gratitude rather than extravagance.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTwo months ago I never dreamed I would be doing this, I can tell you that,\u201d he said. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThen a couple of things happened. \u00a0The last <\/span>Eagles\u2019 Nest<\/span><\/i> had a story \u2018Why \u00a0I Give\u2019 … quoted four alumni from different backgrounds and times yet they all shared many of my same beliefs about the school.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRight around that same time I had dinner with a friend. \u00a0He was telling me how much money he had given to different charities and I started thinking, \u2018I can do something like that.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And then came the sudden realization for our anonymous alum that a gift made from the heart creates a connection to something larger and brings meaning and purpose to one\u2019s life which may not have before existed. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAbout a week ago, I had a sleepless night and it suddenly hit me – if you\u2019re going to do something, go for it. \u00a0Don\u2019t mess around, go for it. \u00a0I emailed (president) Fr. (Kevin) Storey and told him how impressed I was with him and his vision for St. Thomas. \u00a0And I\u2019m really fired up after that miracle win over Strake. \u00a0And I\u2019m willing to talk big money.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The two immediately hammered out details and Fr. Storey proclaimed the No Substitute For Victory Challenge minutes before the Eagles kicked-off their annual Homecoming game in front of a soon-to-be frenzied Hotze Field crowd. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The buzz immediately reverberated throughout the bleachers in Granger Stadium, a call to action inspired by the STH $6 Million Man who will be revealed November 7 during Alumni Weekend. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping this will loosen some pocketbooks sitting on the sideline,\u201d the unknown donor said. \u00a0\u201cNow is the time to come forward and back a winner.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The soon-to-be-$6 Million Man has long recognized that his Eagle experience formed a foundation within him which continues to serve well in facing life’s challenges, joys and disappointments. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThose Basilians instilled in all of us values that have carried us throughout our lives,\u201d he said. \u00a0\u201cJust about every St. Thomas graduate I know feels that close affinity for that school and how the school helped them become successful later in life. \u00a0Not only the education, but the values.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The anonymous alum has possessed a passion for St. Thomas since those formative years, aware that his lifelong successes are in some way a result of the community that then surrounded and nurtured him.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Challenge appeals to his intensely competitive nature with a name borrowed from his introductory days on campus.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo substitute for victory … the first thing I heard when I was a freshman at St. Thomas before our first football game that fall,\u201d he said. \u00a0\u201cI can\u2019t remember who we played. \u00a0I\u2019ll always remember those words.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Just as vivid is a stirring and emotional recollection describing how his family once faced financial stress and his father, unable to meet the next tuition payments, arrived on campus fully prepared to remove an older brother from the school.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Basilians would have none of it, instructing the father to leave his son enrolled and simply pay when the dollars became available.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that was one of the best investments St. Thomas ever made,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The mystery donor now stands with equally strong convictions to support the Eagle scholars of tomorrow, determined to lead those who embraced the Basilian mission in earlier times, rising to accept the mission for this time, to shape an institution stronger and more entrenched than ever advancing into the school\u2019s second century of teaching Goodness, Discipline and Knowledge in the tradition of the Basilian Fathers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFr. Storey\u2019s intent is to make St. Thomas one of the premier Catholic boys schools in the country,\u201d he said. \u00a0\u201c(The Basilians) can\u2019t do that without this property. \u00a0A city as big and as alive as Houston (right now), this is going to put St. Thomas on the map in a way unlike ever before.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Catholic. \u00a0Basilian. \u00a0Teaching Goodness, Discipline and Knowledge since 1900.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

He is a man highly regarded not only for his sharp business mind but also for his deep devotion to his Alma Mater. He temporarily remains in the shadows after emphatically emerging as the catalyst to invigorate the most ambitious capital campaign in the 114-year history of his school. He is an anonymous alumni-donor whose […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":231,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[16,9,10,13,15,8],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/www.sths.org\/4500Forever\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Joplin-Naming-4500Forever-Dec-2014.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sths.org\/4500Forever\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sths.org\/4500Forever\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sths.org\/4500Forever\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sths.org\/4500Forever\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sths.org\/4500Forever\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.sths.org\/4500Forever\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":232,"href":"http:\/\/www.sths.org\/4500Forever\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229\/revisions\/232"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sths.org\/4500Forever\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sths.org\/4500Forever\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sths.org\/4500Forever\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sths.org\/4500Forever\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}