University Releases 'A Fire That Kindles Other Fires' Campaign Launch Photos

The University has released photos from the public launch of "A Fire That Kindles Other Fires: The Campaign To Advance Mission, Access, & Excellence," its new $135 million capital campaign. See the photos here.

The University celebrated the campaign's launch with a black-tie gala attended by more than 350 guests in the Byron Recreation Complex on campus Sept. 16. The historic campaign, the largest in the University's 135-year history, will advance Scranton’s mission, accessibility and excellence.

“A Fire that Kindles Other Fires is an expression borrowed from the 35th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus. It is a reference to moving into the future with all of the history and tradition of the past; with the same identity but with a new energy in pursuit of new possibilities,” said Rev. Joseph Marina, S.J., president of The University of Scranton. “It is also a reference to people – the people who have been touched by the power of a Catholic and Jesuit education and now move through the world as agents of change and messengers of the gospel, kindling other fires.”

Mission-related goals of the campaign include continued investment in state-of-the-art facilities, laboratories, learning spaces, such as the renovations made in Hyland Hall to support the mechanical engineering program, and initiatives that support core aspects of a Scranton Jesuit education, such as the programming and scholarships offered through the Gail and Francis Slattery Center for the Ignatian Humanities.

“The wonderful truth remains that anything and everything we do at Scranton should be and will be done for our students first,” said Father Marina. “Our shared focus is precisely where it belongs: on our students and their success.”

The campaign will grow the University’s endowment to help break the cost barrier and allow access to a Scranton education regardless of financial means. First-year students received more than $40 million in financial aid scholarships, $37 million of which was provided by the University.

Cayla Kumar, a first-generation student majoring in biochemistry, cell and molecular biology with a minor in philosophy from Queens Village, New York, now in her senior year at Scranton said in her remarks at the gala: “One key pillar of this campaign is scholarship, and I can personally attest to its transformative power. The scholarships provided by this University have not only eased the financial burden on my mother, but have also opened the doors to countless opportunities for me. Scholarships are not just funding education; they are investments in the future leaders and change-makers who will carry our mission forward. They bridge the gap between potential and realization, between dreams and achievements.”

The campaign will also support efforts to overcome other barriers to a Scranton education, such as the University’s campus-wide plan for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. It will support programming to help enroll, retain and graduate first-generation college students, such as Scranton’s THR1VE program, which provides peer mentors, faculty and staff mentors, advocates and leadership and other resources to first-generation college students.

The campaign will also support Scranton’s goals of excellence in academic and professional outcomes of its graduates, as well as Scranton’s commitment to provide a transformational education to students who graduate as “men and women for and with others.” Each year, more than 2,850 students perform more than 170,000 hours of service. Students also participate in Campus Ministries’ International Service Program, which provides immersion experiences in developing countries across Central and South America.

Two of Scranton’s most generous longtime benefactors, John D. Dionne ’86, H’10, former chair of the University’s Board of Trustees, and Jacquelyn Dionne ’89, co-vice chair of University’s Board of Trustees, will serve as co-chairs of A Fire That Kindles Other Fires.

“The University of Scranton has been stoking the fires of knowledge within its students for 135 years, and we hope that it will continue to kindle those fires for 135 more,” said Jacquelyn Dionne. “Each and every day, Scranton is lighting the way to a better tomorrow.”

In addition to the Dionnes, members of the campaign executive committee include Tracy Bannon ’84, former trustee; John Boken, managing director of AlixPartners and current trustee; Mary Haveron ’85, finance and accounting director of Tire Alliance Groupe, L.L.C., and former trustee; John R. Mariotti, D.M.D. ’75, QMA Orthodontics member and current trustee; Vincent Reilly ’80, managing partner of Reilly, McDevitt and Henrich, P.C., and chair of the University’s Board of Trustees; James Slattery ’86, COO of North America MELROSE P.L.C. and former chair of the University’s Board of Trustees; Joseph Sorbera Jr., JLS Cost Management Systems, Inc., and current trustee; Davida Sweeney, former co-chair of the University’s Parents Executive Council; John “JP” Sweeney, financial advisor/vice president investments Wells Fargo advisors member and current trustee; and Michelle Maldonado, Ph.D., provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at the University, and, ex-officio, Father Marina and Robert Davis Jr.,  Ed.D., ’03, G’10,’13, vice president for University advancement.

Also at the gala, University benefactors Patricia and Edward Leahy ’68, H’01, were presented with The University of Scranton’s President’s Medal.

To date, the campaign has raised more than $112 million from 17,800 donors in its non-public phase, which began in May of 2018. The campaign received more than 13 gifts of $1 million or more and the largest single-donation in the University’s history, a $10 million gift from the Leahys, which Father Marina announced at the gala.

To make a donation to the University’s A Fire That Kindles Other Fires Campaign, visit scranton.edu/campaign.