by Frank Lee
operations@thenewsleaders.com
The College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph has received the largest donation in the private college’s history in more than a century.
An anonymous donor has given $10 million to the Catholic school to create and support the new Center for Ethical Leadership in Action.
“For over 100 years, the College of St. Benedict has been helping to turn young women of potential into leaders of substance,” CSB President Mary Dana Hinton said in a video announcing the donation.
A key function of the Center will be to increase students’ opportunities for experiential learning, which include study abroad, undergraduate research, service learning, fellowships and, often most influentially, internship experiences.
The College of St. Benedict has been cited as one of the top 10 best Catholic colleges in the nation, and as one of 13 “up and coming” liberal-arts colleges in the country as cited by peers, in U.S. News and World Report.
“This Center not only ensures our students develop into outstanding leaders, but as increasing numbers of St. Ben’s students do not have the financial wherewithal to afford an unpaid internship or other experiential learning opportunity, this financial support is essential,” she said.
The Center for Ethical Leadership in Action will have the resources to offer stipends to students for whom these opportunities would be “out of reach,” according to the president, and the financial support is a key goal in the college’s five-year strategic plan “Strategic Directions 2020.”
“Our generous, anonymous donor shares our vision to see all young women, regardless of their ability to pay, have a complete St. Ben’s experience,” she said.
In addition to supporting internships and other experiential learning opportunities, the Center for Ethical Leadership in Action will create a mentoring program to host speakers who align with the college’s Benedictine heritage and to promote the development of ethical leaders.
“Our hope is we will be able to begin awarding stipends as early as the summer of 2017,” she said of the 1,936 students at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph.
The College of St. Benedict designs programs to “meet the needs and aspirations of young women, emphasizing women’s leadership and a personal development profile that includes intellectual, spiritual, emotional and physical development.”
According to college officials, almost 90 percent of first-year-students return for their sophomore year, and more than 90 percent of all bachelor’s degrees conferred are earned in four years or less; four-year completion rates at CSB significantly exceed averages for private and public colleges regionally and nationally.
“We are overwhelmed by the generosity of this exceptional gift and extremely grateful for the donors who share our vision to make these transformative experiences available for current and future St. Ben’s women,” she said of the anonymous donation.
Internships and other experiential learning opportunities will be carefully designed to support the formation of ethical women leaders in a variety of fields from business to medicine to education and beyond.
“It positions us as a leader among liberal arts colleges nationally in developing women’s leadership capacity, ethical decision-making, self-confidence and career readiness,” she said.
CSB, and its academic partner Saint John’s University, require every student complete four credits of experiential learning as part of the core curriculum.
“Having the Center will enable us to focus our educational programming and opportunities on ethical leadership, which has always been central to our mission,” said Richard Ice, CSB/SJU provost.
Kathy Hansen, vice president of institutional advancement at St. Ben’s, said the college was “overwhelmed” by the generosity of the $10 million donation.
“The donors have a long-standing appreciation for the quality education their daughter received at St. Ben’s and a respect for ethical leadership that was nurtured by their parents,” Hansen said. “They’re driven to see all St. Ben’s students receive the internships, research and service opportunities that will build character and form ethical leaders.”
