Alumni Donations

[muwarrior69]

I just opened MU's gift participation brochure. I was surprised that only 13% of alumni donate. I was wondering why that is. For me, I do not donate anymore as I feel that MU has lost its Catholic identity. Students are no longer required to take Catholic theology courses. I had to take six. The theology department has few Jesuit Catholic professors. About a third of my professors at MU were Jesuits: 2 in biology, 2 in chemistry, 6 in theology, 3 in philosophy and 2 in french.

[#UnleashSean]

All of your reasons for not donating are reasons I chose to go to Marquette for grad school. 

[tower912]

I donate sporadically.  It all comes down to timing when I am asked.  What else is on the horizon financially?   It has nothing to do with philosophy, theology, basketball success.

[jsglow]

While we each have a choice to make, the 'Catholic' education you describe no longer exists at any Jesuit university in North America.  And the total number of Jesuit professors you described would now constitute a meaningful plurality of the entire Midwest Jesuit Province.  Do understand that there are even those that suggest that MU isn't secular enough.  Most stakeholders disagree with that approach.  I would best describe MU as Catholic while openly welcoming of other faiths.

As to your participation percentage figures, our rate is embarrassingly low compared to our competitor institutions.  Many reasons for that I suppose.

[mu_hilltopper]

I just opened MU's gift participation brochure. I was surprised that only 13% of alumni donate. I was wondering why that is. For me, I do not donate anymore as I feel that MU has lost its Catholic identity. Students are no longer required to take Catholic theology courses. I had to take six. The theology department has few Jesuit Catholic professors. About a third of my professors at MU were Jesuits: 2 in biology, 2 in chemistry, 6 in theology, 3 in philosophy and 2 in french.

I was curious .. from this page, it does look like a student could opt not to talk a THEO class. 

https://www.marquette.edu/core-curriculum/overview.php

Took some googling, but I found a survey from 2015 with demographics.  47% of MU students said they were Catholic.  27% answered some other Christian religion. 

A decent number of silly answers like Wiccan and Rastafarian. 

The %ages don't seem to add up right though .. looks like people could pick more than one answer.   Looks like a good 8-15% are some flavor of unaffiliated/atheist.

https://www.marquette.edu/provost/documents/Marquette%20University%20Final%20Report.pdf

[dgies9156]

My wife and I are among the 13%. We've donated something almost every year since I was graduated, notwithstanding the concern I raised on Tab 6 of the Enrollment thread.

I was given a gift to go there and paid it forward. We've given to other causes and put our two children through college on our own.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

I just had to unsubscribe from their email donation requests. How many times are they going to offer me a free beach towel for making a gift?

[ZiggysFryBoy]

The wife and I both donated chump change in exchange for the McCormick koozie.  So that's 2 new donors.  Good promotion with the koozies.

[forgetful]

For those that complain about MU not being ranked high enough, and also don't donate, remember you are hurting MU's ranking. A component of the rankings are the percent of alumni that donate.

[mu_hilltopper]

I think a component of the non-donors thinking is .. going to college is (can be) a transaction.  "Back in our day" it was a $40,000 transaction for 4 years.  Now it's 3-4x that number.    I think there's a tremendous feeling of "we've paid enough already."

It'd be like buying a house, still paying for the mortgage and then being asked to tip the previous owners every year too.  -- Oh, and the previous owners have this thing called an 'endowment' of nearly a billion dollars.  Oh, and if you ever have kid the tuition for them will be so high it's insanity.  (Mixed metaphor alert.)

.. Of course *I* wouldn't say that.  Bad, evil, selfish people would say that. 

[Cheeks]

We do are most years...donate that is.  My oldest at MU had to take two Theo classes.  I remember having to take 3 about 25 years ago.

[Billy Hoyle]

We do are most years...donate that is.  My oldest at MU had to take two Theo classes.  I remember having to take 3 about 25 years ago.

I had to take 3 Theology and 4 Philosophy in the 90’s. Theo 001 was required, then 2 elective theology courses. PHIL 050 and PHIL 104 (ethics) required, then 2 PHIL electives. Not a Catholic, didn’t have to learn specifically about Catholicism. My Wife I and include MU among our annual contributions to the multiple organizations to which we contribute, though we did stop during the last few Buzz years.

Recent grads aren’t going to be able to contribute or be interested in doing so. They are coming out with tremendous debt, why would they give when debt from MU has to be paid monthly. Colleges nationally are trying to figure out how to get recent grads to donate, it’s not going well.

[Galway Eagle]

09-14 had to do two PHIL and two THEO.

I think when you say something like "it's not catholic enough" you're setting yourself up to be upset and really saying 'it's not aligned with what I believe in perfectly'. Let's say the university followed the popes decrees verbatim. Then there'd still be a large number of donors that's say it's not catholic enough and be pissed off. 

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Yeah we know why Marquette isn't as "Catholic" as it used to be, but muwarrior69 still has the ability to direct his donations where he wants.  I don't donate to Marquette because I just find other charities to be more important.  And that's just my opinion.   I'm sure he feels the same.

[WarriorFan]

I used to donate annually.  I always sent a letter with my check saying that the money must either go to Kevin O'Neill's salary or to the college of engineering.   Then when KO was gone, I said that the money had to go to the college of engineering or towards finding a better coach than Mike Deane.  With Crean, I again said that the money could go to his salary or to the college of engineering.  Since Crean departed, I have not donated.  There was something dysfunctional about the previous administration that left a bad feeling.  I'm re-considering lately. 

[real chili 83]

Beyond money, I'll contend there are other ways to donate.  Engaging students, presenting at classes, mentoring, hiring interns, hiring recent grads, etc.  All have been meaningful and fun. 

ND sucks.

[muwarrior69]

Beyond money, I'll contend there are other ways to donate.  Engaging students, presenting at classes, mentoring, hiring interns, hiring recent grads, etc.  All have been meaningful and fun. 

ND sucks.

Well, according to the brochure Notre Dame is at the top of Alumni donations at 40%.

[muwarrior69]

I had to take 3 Theology and 4 Philosophy in the 90’s. Theo 001 was required, then 2 elective theology courses. PHIL 050 and PHIL 104 (ethics) required, then 2 PHIL electives. Not a Catholic, didn’t have to learn specifically about Catholicism. My Wife I and include MU among our annual contributions to the multiple organizations to which we contribute, though we did stop during the last few Buzz years.

Recent grads aren’t going to be able to contribute or be interested in doing so. They are coming out with tremendous debt, why would they give when debt from MU has to be paid monthly. Colleges nationally are trying to figure out how to get recent grads to donate, it’s not going well.

I wonder what the average debt is for recent MU grads.

[muwarrior69]

Yeah we know why Marquette isn't as "Catholic" as it used to be, but muwarrior69 still has the ability to direct his donations where he wants.  I don't donate to Marquette because I just find other charities to be more important.  And that's just my opinion.   I'm sure he feels the same.

I just think it is disingenuous of MU to claim that students that attend will get a good Catholic education there, especially when a good percentage of the theology department are not even Catholic. Do they even offer a course on the sacraments?

If my grand daughter decides to go to a Catholic university we will probably look at Franciscan University in Ohio or Catholic University in DC.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

I just think it is disingenuous of MU to claim that students that attend will get a good Catholic education there, especially when a good percentage of the theology department are not even Catholic. Do they even offer a course on the sacraments?

If my grand daughter decides to go to a Catholic university we will probably look at Franciscan University in Ohio or Catholic University in DC.

Marquette hasn’t taught Catholic sacraments in awhile. If ever. I attended in the mid 80s and there wasn’t any sort of course work on specific Catholic theology.

And one thing you need to realize is that there aren’t enough qualified Jesuits to fill out the Theology departments at all Jesuit institutions.

[real chili 83]

Well, according to the brochure Notre Dame is at the top of Alumni donations at 40%.

They still suck.

Get with the program.

[Galway Eagle]

I just think it is disingenuous of MU to claim that students that attend will get a good Catholic education there, especially when a good percentage of the theology department are not even Catholic. Do they even offer a course on the sacraments?

If my grand daughter decides to go to a Catholic university we will probably look at Franciscan University in Ohio or Catholic University in DC.

You have that much influence in your grand daughter's college decision? And care so much about the influence of the church at the institution that you'd overlook other considerably more important aspects of a college education? 

[warriorchick]

I just think it is disingenuous of MU to claim that students that attend will get a good Catholic education there, especially when a good percentage of the theology department are not even Catholic. Do they even offer a course on the sacraments?

If my grand daughter decides to go to a Catholic university we will probably look at Franciscan University in Ohio or Catholic University in DC.

You expect to have that much of a say in where your granddaughter goes to school ? Even if you are helping out financially, I am not sure it's fair for you to micromanage her choice.

What is good about Marquette is that it is as Catholic as you want it to be. Super Catholic? There are plenty of courses on Catholicism you can take as electives. You can also choose to be active in Campus Ministry and attend daily Mass. Not Christian? Take Intro to Theology and one elective, and never actively have to deal with religion again.

Keep in mind that most of the super-devout Catholic students will have already had 12 years of Catholic education by the time they hit Marquette. What would they be learning about Catholicism that would be new to them?

[dgies9156]

You expect to have that much of a say in where your granddaughter goes to school ? Even if you are helping out financially, I am not sure it's fair for you to micromanage her choice.

What is good about Marquette is that it is as Catholic as you want it to be. Super Catholic? There are plenty of courses on Catholicism you can take as electives. You can also choose to be active in Campus Ministry and attend daily Mass. Not Christian? Take Intro to Theology and one elective, and never actively have to deal with religion again.

Keep in mind that most of the super-devout Catholic students will have already had 12 years of Catholic education by the time they hit Marquette. What would they be learning about Catholicism that would be new to them?

Sister Chick, I totally agree. In fact, I worry not about Marquette’s “Catholicism.”

I think part of the problem is defining “Catholic” in an era of intellectual curiousity and investigation.

The Truth is the Truth and it will stand up to investigation and discussion.

[Billy Hoyle]

Well, according to the brochure Notre Dame is at the top of Alumni donations at 40%.

How many of that 40% are actual alumni as opposed to “I went to Sacred Heart but was always a huge ND fan” types?