Saint Ignatius College Prep today attracts some of the brightest students in Chicago and the surrounding area. The facilities are attractive and suited for their physical and intellectual needs. While there remain continuing goals for capital improvements, the main focus of The Greater Glory Campaign is not for the "body" of the school but for its "soul"-the students, our faculty, and our future as an institution. Friends and alums of Saint Ignatius College Prep have donated their time and energy by working as committee members for this campaign:

 

Campaign Honorary Chairs

Richard Driehaus '60
Dan '65 and Patty Walsh
Jim '51 and Jacque McDonough

Campaign Executive Committee

Matt '64 and Joyce Walsh, Co-Chairs
John and Debbie Lahey, Vice Chairs
Patti Bobb
Tom Donovan
Jim McKinney '65
Barbara Perry
Joan Steel
Tom Tully

After a thorough strategic planning process that took place over a two-year period from 2000-02, involving faculty, staff, administrators, trustees, alumni, parents and benefactors of Saint Ignatius, the school identified priorities in the areas of academic programs; adult faith development; pastoral, service, co-curricular and athletic programs; as well as plans to complete the work on the physical plant, which has been ongoing for the past two decades. These strategic choices have been translated into a series of campaign goals in support of our mission.

Programmatic Endowment ($18 million goal)

We will create a fund to give us the ability to offer appropriate staffing levels, additional extracurricular athletic programs, and current technologies as well as more competitive salaries, benefits and pension programs for all of our employees, without putting the entire burden for additional salary increases on the cost of tuition alone.

• School Department Support (academics, pastoral ministry, community service and co-curriculars)
   
  Attracting and retaining excellent, faith-filled teachers who are committed to our mission is critical to our "Ignatian difference." The goal in this area is $11 million.

• Fine Arts
  
  We will create a fund to further enhance our outstanding fine arts program, focusing on photography, music, art, theater and dance. The goal in this area is $2.5 million.

• Athletic Programs
  
  We will create a fund to help support the increased number of programs and participation that has occurred over the past decade in our athletic programs. The goal in this area is $2 million.

• Technology Fund
  
  We will create a fund to maintain and expand the excellent level of service provided over the past decade by our technology program. The goal in this area is $2.5 million.

Maintenance Endowment ($5 million goal)
 
To help us care for the tremendous investment that has been made in our facilities over the past 20 years, and without leaving under-funded liabilities for future generations, we will create a maintenance endowment. Currently, only about half of our annual depreciation is actually funded.

Tuition Assistance Endowment ($3 million goal)

We will increase the tuition assistance endowment to help meet our ever-rising demands for need-based grants to families who otherwise would not be able to afford a St. Ignatius education.

Construction Fund ($4 million goal)

To finish the ground floor of the main building, to expand the theater stage and to build the park at May Street, we will raise funds during the campaign. In addition to these construction projects, the fund will assist with proposed land acquisition projects.

Stewardship-Ensuring the Ignatian Difference for Future Generations

It is not pride or ambition that drives us to make a better, stronger school for future generations of students, but the certainty that it is our obligation and our calling.

We are obligated by a debt of gratitude to those who came before us, by those who showed us how far we could reach and how much we could make of ourselves, and by our gratitude to God for giving us the successes in our lives and the means to become stewards for a new generation.

We are also called by God's higher purpose to continue to help young people develop into faith-inspired leaders for the city of Chicago and the world.

The endowments of "The Greater Glory" Campaign will be the living testament to all of us who participate and it will carry our stewardship forward, long after our generation is gone. It will provide some assurance that our beloved school will never falter.

We know how we have benefited from our Saint Ignatius experience. We know too that we must pass those benefits along.

At Saint Ignatius College Prep, we share our patron's belief that education is the best path to a young person's mind, heart and spirit. We firmly believe in our "Ignatian difference:" in the quality of our talented and diverse student body; in the high level of support, challenge and inspiration offered by our faith-filled teachers and staff; in our entire community's commitment to service and the promotion of social justice, inspired by the gospel of Jesus Christ, and formed by the Spiritual Exercises of our patron.

"The Greater Glory" will assure the foundation of our Ignatian excellence for the 21st century, giving the school both the resources and the flexibility to better provide for the students, faculty and staff, and campus for years to come. Your support of this campaign will be a choice for the "greater" good, which will allow "the greater glory of God" to shine through the community of Saint Ignatius College Prep.