Franciscan announces new $110 million fundraising goal
Funds will aid chapel renovations, doctoral program, Washington mission
TEAMWORK — The Rev. Dave Pivonka, left, TOR, president of Franciscan University of Steubenville, met with Rebecca Rook, associate professor of education, and Tim Delaney, executive director of alumni and constituent relations, following Wednesday’s press conference during which Pivonka announced the university’s new $110 million capital campaign fundraising goal. -- Christopher Dacanay
RENOVATIONS — Renderings by Baker Architects and MCF Architecture show a possible design for the interior of Christ the King Chapel on the campus of the Franciscan University of Steubenville. Construction is set to begin in the spring, and renovations will expand seating capacity from 325 to 500. -- Contributed
TEAMWORK — The Rev. Dave Pivonka, left, TOR, president of Franciscan University of Steubenville, met with Rebecca Rook, associate professor of education, and Tim Delaney, executive director of alumni and constituent relations, following Wednesday’s press conference during which Pivonka announced the university’s new $110 million capital campaign fundraising goal. -- Christopher Dacanay
RENOVATIONS — Renderings by Baker Architects and MCF Architecture show a possible design for the interior of Christ the King Chapel on the campus of the Franciscan University of Steubenville. Construction is set to begin in the spring, and renovations will expand seating capacity from 325 to 500. -- Contributed
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STEUBENVILLE -- Franciscan University of Steubenville officials Wednesday announced details about the university's new $110 million capital campaign fundraising goal, money that will contribute to chapel renovations, a doctoral program and a possible Washington, D.C., mission.
The Rev. Dave Pivonka, TOR, university president, said the school had exceeded its former $85 million goal -- set earlier this year -- by nearly $15 million, bringing the total of funds raised to $99.8 million.
"We rejoice at God's goodness and the wonderful generosity of alumni and friends," said Pivonka, the university's first alumnus president, while speaking at the St. Joseph Center on the school's campus.
Having launched on Dec. 10, 2021, the Rebuild My Church campaign originally sought $75 million and commemorated the university's 75th anniversary. The university met that goal after only five months, according to Tim Delaney, alumnus and executive director of alumni and constituent relations.
The university will now be entering its third phase of the campaign.
Pivonka said the university received "six- and seven-figure gifts" from many first-time donors locally and globally, adding, "People who, in some ways, may not agree with everything that we do here ... see that there is something special, there's something different, there's something graced here, and they want to be a part of it."
Third phase funds will contribute toward planned expansions of the university's Christ the King Chapel, which originally opened in 1969. Although current renderings do not represent the final design, Pivonka said, the renovations will increase the chapel's seating capacity from 325 to 500. Construction will begin this spring, he added, saying the project is currently in its design phase.
Officials said donations from many benefactors, including the late Thomas and Audrey Ruthman, have already funded 75 percent of the chapel's renovations.
Another major construction project to be funded -- one already in progress -- is the Christ the Teacher academic building and conference center. The new building, undergoing construction since fall 2022, will house 12 classrooms, 13 laboratories, an 85-person tiered lecture hall and a cafe and lounge.
Other funding initiatives include expanding financial aid and scholarships. Rebecca Rook, alumna and associate professor of education, discussed the St. John Paul II scholarship, a result of campaign efforts, which offers up to full tuition for students from the dioceses of Greensburg, Altoona-Johnstown, Erie and Pittsburgh.
Also, Rook said, the campaign affects the university's academic programs. With new funds, the university hopes to launch a theology doctoral program next fall, as well as a ministry doctoral program in 2025, pending approval from accreditors.
"Our doctoral programs will enable us to have global reach, giving us the awesome privilege of serving the worldwide church," Rook said.
Yet another initiative for third-phase funding, Pivonka said, is to expand the university's general outreach and evangelization footprint. That would be accomplished through a possible presence or "mission of some type" in Washington. Pivonka said university officials are discerning actively how and to what extent this presence will be established.
Pivonka said he conversed with a "fairly influential" individual who lives and works in the U.S. capital. Pivonka said that individual advised that the university should "'Be Franciscan. ... Bring Jesus to our nation's capital,' which is exactly what we're going to do."
Among previously funded initiatives are enhancements of the university's criminal justice program, founded in fall 2020, and its Leadership Institute, as well as the creation of a new nursing simulation lab and expanded parking options.
Pivonka said the university, while discerning its path with the original campaign goal, decided to take a "step in faith." That motto, adopted during the coronavirus pandemic, is what continues to guide the university's fundraising and expansion steps, he said.
"We're not doing more just to do more," Pivonka said. "We believe that the lord is opening the doors, that he's leading and he's directing. I said that, almost three years ago, we're making a step in faith, and we're going to continue to make a step in faith."
Paul Michael "Mickey" Pohl, a retired lawyer, former member of the university's board of trustees and chairman of the capital campaign, said the university has underestimated the collective power of its own mission and the generosity of donors and the collective power of the university's mission.
"We don't want to be proud or boastful, but wow. We've surprised ourselves. ... We just can't be timid. There's more we can do, more we should do and more we are -- with God's help -- going to do."
A video was played for attendees, demonstrating part of a series on the capital campaign's third phase that the university will be releasing.
The Rev. Jonathan St. Andre, TOR, opened and closed the conference with a prayer that remembered St. Francis of Assisi, the university's namesake, whose death is memorialized in the Catholic church on Oct. 4.