Spring 2009

To Alumni and Friends of Benedictine University,

This year has been a very stressful and challenging time for all, including Benedictine University. In times such as these, our Benedictine value of Stewardship demands that we not only watch over the earth and the things thereof, but also of each other. To try and provide some form of lifeboat for our students and their families in these troubling times, the University has developed the following initiatives:

• While other public and private institutions have raised their tuition significantly, the Board of Trustees last October, sensing the deepening economic crisis, declared a tuition freeze for next year. 
• The University has initiated a Displaced Earner Program in which students and their families can take advantage of the University’s career development programs. Several career workshops have been held with hundreds in attendance at each.
• We have announced the "Legacy Scholarship Program" for our alumni. Alumni with multiple children attending Benedictine University over a consecutive six-year period will pay only half the regular tuition rate for a second child, and if a third child enrolls, he or she will receive a full tuition scholarship to Benedictine.

With a flat tuition for next year, budgets are being tightly monitored and administered. Yet, more needs to be done. Like endowments throughout the country, the Benedictine University endowment has taken a significant hit from this recession losing approximately 40 percent in value. While the University does not use the endowment for operating expenses, it is a major source of student scholarships that will not be available next year. To give the endowment the opportunity to get back some of its value in the "recovery" we all trust is coming, it has been "frozen" for a year.

I hope you understand why the University is reaching out to its students and families in a uniquely Benedictine way. We also need your help. With reduced scholarship money, with families and students unable to find jobs, the need is great. We are doing all in our power to continue to make a Catholic and Benedictine education available at an affordable cost. In these tough times, families turn to one another for help. As a member of the Benedictine family, I ask you to consider helping our students weather this economic crisis through a donation to the University.

Your donation will offset the costs of textbooks and tuition. In my years as president, I have never heard anyone question the value of their Benedictine education. I ask you to help today’s students realize their dream of becoming Benedictine graduates. To make a gift, please visit www.ben.edu and click on the “Make a Gift Now” icon at the bottom of the home page.

I thank you for all you do for Benedictine University.

William J. Carroll
President