FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 8, 2007
www.jcu.edu
Contact: Tonya Strong-Charles
                216.397.1958
                tstrong@jcu.edu

John Carroll University receives
Three Major Gifts Totaling
Six Million Dollars

University Heights, OH-John Carroll University’s vision, mission and core values are the foundation of three recent alumni gifts from the following couples:

• Mary Jo and John Boler (’56)
• Mary Jane (’91, ’94G) and Jack Breen (’56)
• Barbara (’62, ’67G, ’80G) and John Schubert

Mary Jo and John Boler’s gift of $2.5 million will establish the President’s Opportunity Fund that will enable John Carroll University President Robert L. Niehoff, S.J.,
to allocate resources in areas such as academic programs, service projects and capital improvements.

“The head of the university should have a fund of his own in the event that he has a significant opportunity to move essential objectives forward,” said Mr. Boler.  Describing Father Niehoff as a “very insightful leader,” Boler emphasized his desire to see John Carroll continue to “grow and be successful.”

The Bolers have generously supported John Carroll over many years. The university’s Boler School of Business is named in their honor. The D.J. Lombardo Student Center is named in honor of Mrs. Boler’s father.

Mary Jane and Jack Breen are giving $2.5 million to endow a chair in Catholic Systematic Theology within the Department of Religious Studies. The endowment is intended to fund an outstanding teacher/scholar in Catholic theology.

In announcing the couple’s gift, Mr. Breen stated, “I am happy to support John Carroll and its mission, as this chair will further enhance the university’s Jesuit Catholic tradition.”   He added, “Mary Jane and I strongly believe that our faith and the religious foundation of our education at John Carroll shaped who we are today.”

The Breens have served as important sponsors of the university’s Institute of Catholic Studies in recent years and established The Breen Family Catholic Lecture Series and the Breen Learning Center at the Grasselli Library.

Barbara and John Schubert announced a gift of $1 million to support mission and identity programs at John Carroll. Their gift is awarded in honor of Rev. Howard J. Gray, S.J., the university’s departing rector of the Jesuit community and assistant to the president for University Mission and Identity. 

Mrs. Schubert said, “John and I are both terrific fans of Father Howard Gray and feel it’s important that his initiatives continue after he leaves the university. ‘Mission’ is what makes John Carroll unique.” She added, “Father Gray isa gift.”

The Schuberts are dedicated supporters of the university and of the Jesuit values it espouses. Their generosity has funded minority scholarship assistance at John Carroll, Institute of Catholic Studies programs, as well as many other special projects.

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John Boler, Jack Breen and Barbara Schubert serve on the university’s Board of Directors and spend a considerable amount of time as volunteers for numerous projects.

John Carroll University, located in Cleveland, Ohio, is a liberal arts university grounded in the Jesuit, Catholic tradition.  The university has some 3,100 plus undergraduates and just over 700 graduate students.  The U.S. News & World Report’s 2007 annual college guide ranks John Carroll University among the top 10 master’s-degree granting universities in the Midwest and first in average graduation rate. Originally founded as St. Ignatius College in 1886, the university was renamed in 1923 to honor America’s first Catholic bishop, John Carroll of Maryland.  John Carroll is one of 28 Jesuit colleges and universities located in the United States.

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