REGIS

Summer Spring 2004 13
Regis: the Not-for-Profit
Corporation
Like any entity that exists – it must deal with the realities of
the business world. Bills have to be paid, policies have to be
established, fiscal responsibility must be assured. Regis is no
different.
Regis has been blessed over these years to have had an
outstanding Board of Trustees dedicated to fostering the best
in the Regis programs. Their concern for the religious nature
of the school, as well as for the academic program has been
equally impressive. They have brought their experience in the
business world to assure that the school and its endowment are
managed in a fiscally responsible way. They have demonstrated
their real ability to govern a school in such a way that we will
continue to be an all-scholarship, strong, Catholic and Jesuit
college preparatory school. The governance is in good shape.
education to worthy students. With 60% of alumni solicited
responding so generously, the school can count on a community
of support for its future. However I have seen that we cannot be
overly reliant on this growing source of income, as it needs to be
appropriately balanced by significant endowment income. It is
for that reason that over the past three years we have worked at
getting major gifts to shore up the endowment (which currently
stands at about $45 million). Elsewhere in this issue you will
see the announcement of the over $9.5 million in major gifts
raised, and the desire to raise an additional $5.5 million for the
endowment in the Vision to Lead Campaign. This will have to
be an ongoing part of the Regis fiscal landscape for years to
come – regular efforts to increase the endowment to keep up
with rising costs. Yet it is my sense of the alumni that there is
a depth of support and magnanimity to realize this ambitious
fiscal task.
Fiscally, the school will continue to depend on two “fragile”
feet: annual giving and the endowment. When the economy
is strong, the school will be able to meet its demands as
endowment income and annual giving will be more robust. In
economic downturns, the school will struggle to maintain fiscal
health, and not to have to make choices that would harm its
future health or programs.
When I began at Regis, the annual fund had brought in the
previous year $1.9 million. This year the anticipated amount
raised will be $3.8 million – a 100% increase in 8 years! The
annual fund income generated is the equivalent of income off
of an $80 million endowment! That is an outstanding testimony
to the great generosity of the Regis Alumni and friends of the
school. It is a sign of hope for a school that strives to give this
Bill and Sheila Sullivan ’52 with Fr. McClain, SJ
Regis: the gift.
(l to r): Richard Meyer ’51, Fr. Don Harrington ’63, John
Werwaiss ’60, Fr. McClain, SJ
As I review these years in one sense I want to say I haven’t
done much – Regis has done great things. Students, faculty,
staff, alumni have all come together to strengthen this special
school in many and varied ways. As President I have kept you
informed as to what is happening both good and bad at your
school. I have welcomed you. I have tried to articulate for you
in many ways what our mission is and how we are doing it.
I have urged us all to strive to be better, to seek the magis. I
have asked you for support in small and large ways to make
that mission actual. I have prayed constantly to our God, for
blessings on all we do. For what I have failed to do, I ask for
your pardon. For what has been able to be accomplished – I
simply say: thank YOU and our God for all you have done. You
are the Regis gift – generosity that begets generosity.