A word about the Donate button now on our website: “The farther we move away from mission, the farther we move away from our reason to exist” was a haunting line at the most recent ACCU meeting in Washington DC. Collegium alums intuit that reality. All of us in Catholic higher education, Collegium alum or not, are witnessing financial fragility in colleges and universities of all sizes, to the point where longtime member schools must put their Collegium membership on pause during wrenching budget discussions. This year’s cohort at St. John’s was vocal about the imperative to make it possible for any Catholic school to send someone to Collegium, especially those for whom the invitation seems an unaffordable luxury, and that they would like to play a part in that effort.
To that end, our website—www.collegium.org—now has a Donate button to allow those who’ve brought Collegium’s lessons home to make a modest contribution to build up an endowment to help schools defray the costs of annual membership dues. In honor of Collegium’s 35th anniversary, we invite you to make a $35 donation. 100% of funds from your one-time or recurring gift will directly support schools’ abilities to send someone to the colloquy. If you feel so moved, there’s even an option to increase the amount you give. With over 3000 Collegium alums out there, we can help form faculty to infuse principles of Catholic social teaching and intellectual tradition, sacramental and prophetic imaginations into their work, keeping the mission—our collective reason for being—at the front of our teaching and creative scholarly work.
Did you have a great mentor? Hear a talk or read a poem that you still think about after your time as a participant? Feel a little bit transformed? We’d be delighted to accept a $35 donation to honor that lasting impact.
Thank you in advance for your consideration!