President’s Magis Scholarship Initiative Launches with Attempt to “Flap” World Record
PHILADELPHIA (November 14, 2012) – Saint Joseph's University kicks off its President’s Magis Scholarship Initiative tomorrow with an attempt to set a world record for the longest simultaneous “group flap” at a rally dubbed “flapitude 2012.”
The record-setting attempt, which coincides with National Philanthropy Day and Guinness World Records Day, is being held in the University’s Michael J. Hagan ’85 Arena at 11:30 a.m. The attempt will become an official world record if Saint Joseph’s achieves at least 350 participants flapping for five minutes.
Rally-goers – students, faculty, staff and alumni – will flap as a symbolic gesture of gratitude to University benefactors who support student scholarship , while also raising awareness about the impact philanthropy has on Saint Joseph’s students and its campus.
The President’s Magis Scholarship Initiative is a fundraising effort that will enable the University to offer more scholarship support to its students. At his October inauguration, University President C. Kevin Gillespie, S.J. ’72 cited affordability, accessibility and accountability as integral to the University’s future success. This scholarship initiative is intended to address affordability.
“At Saint Joseph’s, we already strive to be accessible and accountable,” Fr. Gillespie said in his inaugural address. “Accessibility and accountability get us only two-thirds of the way. If we are truly awakening to the magis, and if this new presidency is to serve a greater good, we simply must find new and creative ways to make the Saint Joseph’s experience more affordable. What we offer is too important and what our graduates bring to the world is too critical to limit the pool of future students.”
Magis translated from Latin means “more,” and is a principal of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) that motivates the University to do more for its students. Scholarship is the lifeblood of a Jesuit education, which was founded nearly 500 years ago on providing access to learning and developing the breadth and depth of each person.
“A Jesuit mission promotes scholarships because they give students the potential to further their dreams through education,” Fr. Gillespie said. “Education is one of the unique purposes of the Society of Jesus, not just locally but globally by making students global citizens. That is made so much more realistic through scholarships. That’s what we hope that when a student receives a scholarship, they realize their true potential, and that one gives back by means of the scholarship.”
-30-
Contact:
Kevin Kaufman, SJU Development and Alumni Relations
215-651-6551 (c), kkaufman@sju.edu
Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1851, Saint Joseph’s University advances the professional and personal ambitions of men and women by providing a demanding, yet supportive, educational experience. One of only 152 schools with a Phi Beta Kappa chapter and AACSB business school accreditation, Saint Joseph’s is home to 4,650 traditional undergraduate day students, 700 College of Professional and Liberal Studies adult undergraduates, and 3,600 graduate and doctoral students. Steeped in the 450-year Jesuit tradition of scholarship and service, Saint Joseph's was named to the 2012 President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for General Community Service. The University strives to be recognized as the preeminent Catholic comprehensive university in the Northeast.