Steve McDonnell didn’t graduate from Franciscan University, marry an alum, or even send children there, but after attending a summer conference in 2017, he became one of the school’s outstanding friends and promoters.
“Somehow, Franciscan has developed a secret sauce that I’m convinced will help people get to where we should all want to go,” he says. “They are forming people who, when they leave Franciscan, are doing work on behalf of the Church that will result in bringing a bunch along with them.”
Although Steve says he is uncomfortable overtly telling people to give to the University as he does, he is eager to talk about the school and why he supports it. Additionally, he has gone on several Franciscan-sponsored pilgrimages and invites people to the Steubenville Conferences, often paying for their registration and hosting dinners for them during the conference.
He also has encouraged Franciscan University President Father Dave Pivonka, TOR ’89, and other University leaders to do a little more “bragging” about the number of people who have gone to Franciscan and the good they are doing for the Church.
“It is a special place, and it’s undeniable when you go there yourself and experience it,” he says. “It’s not bragging if you’re telling the truth.”
Steve, who lives in Colleyville, Texas, discovered Franciscan University through its Defending the Faith Conference. Steve went to his first one in 2017 and has gone every year since, except 2020, when the conference was held virtually because of COVID.
After graduating with an accounting degree from Iowa State University in Ames, Steve worked for a national accounting firm before joining Central and South West Corp., where he served 23 years until the electric utility holding company was sold to American Electric Power. He concluded his career as chief financial officer of HF Sinclair Corp., an energy company.
Thanks to his parents, who paid for his education, Steve says he was able to finish college with no debt, but when he graduated, he had only $1,000 and a beat-up car to his name.
“I’ve been blessed financially beyond my expectations,” he says. “I never dreamed I would have what I have.”
Still, he strives to be a good steward of what he has, believing, as he read in a recent Word on Fire Gospel reflection, that nothing in this world should be an object of one’s deepest longings or most powerful commitments.
Steve says he also takes seriously making sure the organizations and institutions he supports through giving will be good stewards of their resources.
He sees similarities between Franciscan and the storied Mayo Clinic, where his late wife was treated and where he receives his annual physical. At Mayo, he says, the culture is such that everyone, from doctors to food-service personnel, all share two important characteristics—they are competent in their roles and caring toward those they serve.
Likewise at Franciscan, “Everyone you meet—from students to faculty to even people who come to the conferences—all exhibit a strong faith that is clearly being nurtured there. I love that school, their mission, and the undeniable success they are having.”
As someone who was raised Catholic, Steve says he is saddened at how many in the Church do not take their faith as seriously as they should.
“I see Franciscan as a place that is helping stem the tide away from that.”
