Alumni and Friends Making an Impact

There is nothing like the connections you make at UD.

“My roommate and I used to leave early for class because we talked with everybody we saw,” said Nick Beck ’04. “That’s the fabric of our University. It’s an open-door, open-communication, open-connection environment.”

Alumni like Nick and Kate ’08 Beck treasured their time on campus, but they also make it a point to preserve UD’s unique environment by keeping their connection to UD loyal and strong.

The Becks are members of UD’s Front Porch Society. FPS members are UD’s most loyal donors, giving back for at least three consecutive fiscal years. The Becks have made gifts for 11 years in a row, which means they are Lawnview members of the FPS (six to 14 years).

They usually support their majors and Campus Ministry, where Kate was involved with the Lighthouse Retreat and Nick was involved in Metanoia.

“We met lifelong friends through the ministry and realize what it can do for students in forming their faith and exploring lives of service,” said Kate. Nick agreed and added, “The way people share through Campus Ministry really touches with the way we share our time, talent and treasure today. The retreats and the ministry are the start of that door opening for a lot of people. And that’s important to us.”

So how do alumni and friends keep the connections alive? It helps to have a plan.

“We make UD a priority,” said Nick. “There are a lot of important nonprofits in the world. A lot of important volunteer opportunities. We make supporting UD a priority in our lives because we feel we’ve gotten a big benefit from our time there, and we want to continue the tradition of helping students at UD now.”

Annual gifts from our FPS members pass those benefits along to current students and offer the University the flexibility to meet its most pressing needs while opening doors to new opportunities.

The health of the University of Dayton is deeply connected to annual giving. It can be the difference between merely surviving and thriving in the competitive higher education market.

And UD is thriving for the same reason students love this campus: It’s the people; it has always been the people.