It’s common to see students, faculty, and staff holding doors open for one another, in all types of weather and across all distances. The endowment is a financial embodiment of that principle: looking out for those who come after you.
More than a static pile of cash, a growing endowment under strong stewardship can transform the Prep’s financial equation as a force for good. Just ask the beneficiaries.
Mark Sullivan ’73 is the donor behind one of St. John’s approximately 175 individually named endowed funds. As a concept, he understood the power of his gift right from the start, but he wasn’t focused on real-world impact until it just kept staring him in the face. Now, he receives annual reminders that his endowed gift is on its way to serving multiple generations.
“I speak for my family, and I so greatly appreciate the scholarship I received,” a Class of 2024 graduate wrote to Sullivan. “My father was recently laid off from his job. We spent the next two or three months in constant stress and uncertainty over our current financial situation. We were almost ready to sell our house and move and say goodbye. If not for this scholarship, we surely would’ve moved on, and I would not have been able to attend St. John’s.”
Sullivan likes the analogy that this level of impact is akin to the difference between a light turning on or burning out.
“It’s incredibly heartwarming to hear,” says Sullivan, who established The Marion and Francis Sullivan P’73 Fund in 2021 in honor of his parents. “You say to yourself, ‘Wow, okay, this had an impact on this kid and his entire family.’”
The origin story behind Sullivan’s fund is enough to inspire anyone to break out their checkbook. He was once that child, born of devoutly Catholic parents from the Greatest Generation who were just trying to make ends meet. “A lot of times, we forget how much
our parents sacrifice for us,” he says. “Mine never talked about it. They just did it. I think for any Prep graduate who’s on the other side of that financial equation, all of us know an endowed fund is probably the best investment you can make in your lifetime because it’s on an education. To go through a Xaverian School with all the values they preach and the discipline you learn, it stays with you your whole life. And that helps you later in life. It helps you with your job and your relationships. We all know it’s just very, very important. So this is a way to leave a legacy.”
Tom House ’19 is a vocal champion for endowed funds, which figures since he attributes his current place in the world as having a lot to do with the help his family received funding his Prep education.
“When you invest in the Prep in this way, you invest in dreams and opportunities,” says House, who benefited from the Irene Maunus Fund. “You invest in a kid like me, who has a hard-working single mom and who wanted to be a meteorologist one day. A kid who’s excited to get through high school and get to college, succeed, and make a difference in their community.”
House certainly qualifies as a success story given that he’s actually living his dream in Texas as a meteorologist at Austin’s NBC affiliate, KXAN-TV. Which is another reason he’s such a mouthpiece for endowed funds. “By donating and continuing to stay in touch with St. John’s in such a meaningful way, you’re making a real impact for young men like myself and my brothers [Benjamin ’18 and John ’25, both of whom were also supported by endowed funds]. It meant the world to us that we had other people who were looking out for us, listening to us, and hearing what we needed to help push us through a tremendous program. I’m grateful for those who are giving back to St. John’s and helping other people follow their passions in life.”
Heart & Soul
The strength of an endowment lies in its lasting continuity. An endowed fund establishes a perpetual community benefit by maintaining a permanent charitable resource. The sustained support, and the chance for others to make contributions to a donor’s endowment fund, amplify the gift’s power to do good.
The right combination of investment principles and disbursement strategies can expand the resources available to advance academic programs, faculty development, and student access. The School’s long-term mission is to make a St. John’s education available to every qualified student who seeks it, regardless of financial circumstance. While that goal hasn’t been reached quite yet, the momentum of the growing endowment is helping the Prep make steady progress. One of the most tangible outcomes is the steady increase in available tuition assistance, allowing more families to access a Prep education. Each new endowed fund, and every contribution to an existing one, brings St. John’s closer to a future where access to the Prep is never limited by a family’s financial capacity.
As noted, faculty benefit from endowed funds as well.
The Christopher Iannuzzi ’88 Faculty Enhancement Fund was established in memory of longtime Spanish language teacher Pat Henaghan, who taught at the Prep for 34 years before his passing in 2023. This fund supports professional development opportunities that help faculty grow in their craft and deepen their expertise. The Joe ’62 and Jill Milano GP’18 ’22 Faculty Excellence Fund, by contrast, is designed to underwrite faculty experiences that will enhance or improve the student experience in the classroom.
The doors to leadership opportunities are open to students as young as seventh grade: above, a group of Junior Spire Society members hold open the doors of the Leo and Joan Mahoney Wellness Center wide for prospective students and their families during the Middle School open house.
This summer, Middle School music teacher Diane Hastings will travel to Italy to participate in a two-week immersive festival at the Assisi Performing Arts Center. Her goal is to assess the program’s potential for enriching the Prep’s music curriculum in the years ahead. That fact-finding mission is being made possible by the Joe ’62 and Jill Milano GP’18 ’22 Faculty Excellence Fund.
When Hastings reflects on the tangible benefits of a fund like this one, she leans into its potential to impact a broad cross-section of teachers and students in the music program, especially with regard to curricula and subject matter expertise. “I think earmarked, endowed dollars demonstrate a level of care for the life of the people who are the heart and soul of the school,” she says. “It allows for the kind of thing a teacher might not be able to do in the average course of their career. Certainly for me, it just wouldn’t be in the cards to leave my family without the ability to afford some childcare and without having to work a job for the entire summer.
“Funds like this are a special recognition of the idea that if you take care of teachers and their lifelong journey of learning, it will enhance the lives of so many more students by allowing their instructors to be their best self in terms of aptitude or experience or...just fill in the blank,” Hastings adds. “I feel so honored, personally, but I think this experience will impact how I teach and how we focus on building specific skills around our program based upon the types of things I pick up from these other teacher-coaches at the festival.”
That was exactly the kind of benefit Iannuzzi was envisioning when he established the Iannuzzi ’88 Faculty Enhancement Fund.
“I felt like if there were an endowment that I was going to be involved in, it would be best to recognize the profession of teaching,” he says. “When I went to college and grad school, I was very prepared for the work. I thought about ‘why is that?’ I think back to some of those teachers who really made a difference. At the Prep, you have long days and you’ve got a lot going on, but so many classes were interesting and engaging. If you weren’t prepared for Mr. Henaghan’s class, for example, you kind of felt left out. In hindsight, I feel like that was a pretty good way to learn.”
A Living Legacy
The notion of an institution’s endowment or an endowed fund being a passive reserve or an inert measure of financial solvency is easily dispelled (see above). But misconceptions remain. While the annual fund remains the Prep’s pulse by advancing the School’s day-to-day mission, endowed funds represent the spiritual heart, upholding our values and opening doors for countless students to walk through. You can’t have one without the other. What’s more, becoming involved with an endowed fund doesn’t necessarily require backing up a Brinks truck. Donors can make a gift of any size to an existing endowed fund that resonates with their own sense of connection to the Prep. More to the point, donations made sooner can grow exponentially later.
Nearly every student in the history of St. John’s Prep has passed through the wooden doors of Xavier Hall where an ever-changing array of academic, spiritual, co‐curricular, athletic, and social opportunities across campus await.
Numbers aside, the emotional and spiritual gratification of repeatedly changing the course of others’ lives for the better remains the strongest impetus for giving. At least when folks take a moment to let the outcomes sink in.
“I almost didn’t go to the Prep, but because of the generosity of the Flatley Family Fund, it felt like a miracle: Someone I’d never even met came through for me and my family,” echoes a beneficiary in the Class of 2028. “I love St. John’s. From the amazing teachers and the friendly and smart students to the beautiful campus. I’m simply in awe of how lucky I am to be at this school, and I am eternally thankful. Each day, I walk onto campus and I think about all the people who’ve supported me on my way here and this fund is a big reason why I can stay.”
The happy truth is, reflections like these could fill the pages of this entire edition of the magazine. From a Class of 2026 winner of the John J. McDuffie Memorial Scholarship Fund: “I can say proudly that your benevolence turned me into the person that I am today. I can’t imagine where I would be without St. John’s.” From a classmate and recipient of the Richard P. Norris ’68 Scholarship Fund: “It means the world to me that I get to wake up every day and go to this place. Your generous support of the Prep allows me to do that. The impact you’ve had on my life is enormous. I’ll do my best to use this opportunity that I’ve been given to its fullest.”
The force of these words speaks for itself. For his part, all Sullivan can hear is a call to action.
“Not every Prep alumnus with the means thinks about endowment. But they should.”
Annual Fund vs. Endowment
Like most private schools, St. John’s tuition and endowment resources cover most—but not all—of the full cost of educating our students.
This is where the Fund for St. John’s enters the picture to bridge the gap. The Prep’s annual fund, which provides critical financial support each year to keep St. John’s not just running smoothly, but thriving and expanding. Gifts to the Fund for St. John’s flow directly into the Prep’s annual operating budget, benefiting all aspects of the student experience. These gifts are put to immediate use, allowing St. John’s to offset costs in real time and invest in priorities that otherwise would not be supported.
Donors to the annual fund become stakeholders in advancing the Prep’s mission—ensuring that every student can experience the exceptional opportunities that define a St. John’s education.
To learn more or make a gift visit www.stjohnsprep.org/giving.
P.S. What do a consultant, a college hockey coach, and a small business owner have in common? Read more about alumni taking charge in these positions.
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