Donor Spotlight

Gifts of all sizes make an impact at the University. Learn more about a few of the University's many contributors who are truly representations of Ben.

526 Alumni and Friends >
61 Members >
Faculty/Staff Giving >
President's Annual Invitational Golf Outing >
First Responders Endowed Scholarship >
Navistar >
Amania Drane >
Patrice Kucia >
Mr. and Mrs. William Phillips >
Ray Konopka Jr. C89 >
Family and Friends of Dale Herbst >
Robert Taylor >

526 Alumni and Friends

526 alumni and friends of the University have joined the Eagle Club, Benedictine’s athletic booster organization. Their gifts provide vital discretionary resources to the University Department of Athletics.

61 Members

Thank you to the 61 Members of the Benedictine University Heritage Society. These members indicated they are leaving the University in their wills/bequests.

Faculty/Staff Giving

Thank you to the 175 faculty and staff members that made a contribution to the University.

President's Annual Invitational Golf Outing

Thank you to the following sponsors of the President’s Annual Invitational Golf Outing: Event Sponsor: U.S. Bank; Celebrity Guest Sponsor: DLR Group; Dinner Sponsor: Sodexo.

First Responder Endowed Scholarship

Thank you to the following donors who support the First Responder Endowed Scholarship. This scholarship financially assists students in the First Responder program who are undergraduate business majors. Terry Vavra, M.S.‘06; Jim French, Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Management, C05; Rick Tanksley, M.S.’08; Jim Kubinski, Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Management, C10; Kevin Driscoll, M.S.’08, Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Management, C06.

Navistar

Navistar served as the lead sponsor for our second annual BenFest concert. Thank you to the Benedictine University Alumni Association for sponsoring our spring concert.

Amania Drane, M.S. in Management and Organizational Behavior '11

Amania founded and supports the Celebrating Success Scholarship. The Celebrating Success Scholarship serves as an opportunity to celebrate the academic achievements and community involvement of Black students attending Benedictine University. As much as her schedule allows, Drane also loves participating and volunteering at Benedictine any way she can.

Patrice Kucia, M.B.A.'96, B.A., C91

Patrice gives back to the University with her time, talent and treasure. She served on the Alumni Association Board for nine years and was the Alumni Board President for two years. Kucia founded and currently works with the College of Business Advisory Board, which connects students to alumni. Kucia is both the founder and a supporter of the Fr. David Turner, O.S.B., Endowed Scholarship, which financially assists qualified students with tuition.

Mr. and Mrs. William Phillips

Mr. and Mrs. William Phillips continually support the Margaret M. Gillett Memorial Scholarship in Education. The Phillips choose to support this scholarship because they don’t want students to accumulate large amounts of debt in order to get a good education. The Phillips were close friends with Margaret M. Gillett, for who the scholarship is named. Margaret’s husband, Willis Gillett, founded the Scholarship in Margaret’s honor.

Ray Konopka Jr., C89

Ray founded and recently endowed the Raize Software Inc. Scholarship in Computer Science. Konopka founded this scholarship to help make the outstanding education at Benedictine University more affordable for talented computer science students.

Family and Friends of Dale Herbst

This group came together to celebrate the life of Dale Herbst when his wife, Georgene Herbst, requested gifts be made to the Jurica-Suchy Nature Museum at Benedictine after his passing. These gifts will help Dale Herbst’s former roommate at St. Procopius College, Fr. Theodore Suchy, O.S.B., to continue and enhance the vision of Frs. Hilary and Edmund Jurica, O.S.B., for the museum.

Robert Taylor

Robert supports the general scholarship fund because he will never forget the experiences he had at Benedictine University and all that he has learned. He wants to ensure that other students have the opportunity to go through similar experiences. Taylor was recently presented the Golden Apple Award, which promotes teaching excellence in the Chicago area.