Franciscan University of Steubenville has completed the most successful fundraising campaign in its history. The Rebuild My Church Campaign, which launched publicly in December 2021 with a goal of $75 million, concluded in December 2024, having raised a record-setting $126.1 million—more than four times as much as any previous campaign.
The generous gifts from 3,050 donors support many initiatives.
• The $55 million raised so far for Christ the Teacher Hall and Event Center, now the largest academic building on campus, enhances Franciscan’s educational offerings and answers needs arising from consistent enrollment growth, new academic programs, and more campus events.
• Over $40 million in scholarship funds help Franciscan keep tuition costs affordable with financial aid awards for 90 percent of our students.
• Over $12 million launched the much-needed renovation and expansion of Christ the King Chapel.
• A $10 million gift initiated the Ward and Kathy Fitzgerald Franciscan University Homeland Mission in Washington, D.C. (see page 18).
• More than $5 million toward outreach and evangelization funded the new PhD in Sacred Theology Program, FaithandReason.com platform, and nationally recognized Steubenville Conferences.
• With the $4 million raised for the Leadership Institute and Entrepreneurship Program, Criminal Justice Program, and Nursing Program SIM laboratory, Franciscan has extended its academic opportunities.
Father Dave Pivonka, TOR ’89, Franciscan University president, and Bob Hickey ’96 MBA ’01, vice president of Advancement, say the impressive amount raised only tells part of this capital campaign’s story. “Bob and I met with many benefactors over the past several years. While we were blown away by their generous contributions, we were even more blessed by the profound love they have for God, the Catholic Church, our country, and Franciscan University,”
Father Dave says. “Along with their donations, they shared their wisdom, encouragement, and prayer—all of which we accepted with humble gratitude. Our alumni and friends are simply the best!” Father Dave says, “The mission to form joyful disciples to rebuild our Church and our world has never been more urgent—and it can continue to grow only with the prayers and support of faithful friends. I know I speak on behalf of our entire Franciscan University family when I say thank you to all of them from the bottom of our hearts.”
Hickey adds, “We were often brought to tears as donors told us about their Franciscan University connections as alumni, parents, conference-goers, trustees, and as those who’ve been impacted by our alumni, faculty, and programing and resources in one way or another. Franciscan touches hearts, transforms lives, and rebuilds the Church, so their reasons for giving are deeply personal and inspiring.”
Many see their gifts as a thank you to Franciscan University for all it has meant to them and their families.
“One couple, longtime Steubenville Conference attendees and parents of two alums, gave a major gift toward the Christ the King Chapel expansion and renovation,” Hickey recalls. “The husband told me it was his way of saying thank you to Franciscan for bringing his children closer to the Church, giving them lifelong friends and a great education, and encouraging their journey toward heaven. ‘How could I ever repay you for that?’ he asked me. It was so very beautiful and humbling.”
Others simply want to help Franciscan University continue its mission, as the grandfather of a current student wrote: “Our visits to Franciscan University about a year ago and again yesterday were like much-needed blood transfusions. It’s hard for me to explain, but when I’m on the campus, I can almost taste the strength of our faith in the air. I see it in the faces of the students and feel it in my heart.… Today, I signed up for a recurring monthly donation to the University. It’s not a great deal, but it’s what I can do on a fixed income. Please keep filling the minds and hearts of your students with our faith.”
Just as the generosity of our donors comes through best in their own words, so, too, the impact of their gifts shines best through the stories of the main beneficiaries: our students. Here, we share the gratitude of several students, knowing their sentiments echo in the hearts of thousands of their classmates today—and will continue to reverberate through future generations of rebuilders of the Church.
Patients as Persons
Lucy Donahue’s mother passed away when Lucy was in middle school. Both her mother’s life and death inspired Lucy’s choice of nursing as her major.
“I saw the impact my mother had on the people she served as a nurse, and I also saw the amazing nurses who cared for her in her final days,” Lucy says. “I wanted to do that too.” She knew Franciscan University was the right place for her to study nursing but wasn’t sure how.
“I was looking at a school closer to home where I was able to get more financial aid. Then one day, my admissions counselor at Franciscan emailed me that I had been awarded the St. John Paul II Scholarship. It was a miracle for me,” she says. “I started crying like a baby!”
Funded by generous Rebuild My Church Campaign donors, the scholarship has already awarded over $4 million in financial aid to 210 students. The scholarship prioritizes high school and transfer students with demonstrated financial need in Western Pennsylvania dioceses; however, students in other dioceses within Pennsylvania, like Lucy who is from Schuylkill Haven, have also benefited.
When she arrived on campus, it was “a culture shock, in the best way,” she says.
“I had gone to a public high school where it was an uphill climb to be a Catholic. I had tried starting a Students for Life chapter there, but never got any support from the administration.” At Franciscan, “it was easy to get involved with the prolife efforts. The sacraments are readily available, so it’s easy to build good habits. My theology courses help me understand the ‘why’ behind what we believe.”
Now a sophomore, she is also grateful for her experience in the Nursing Program.
“The professors want you to succeed, but the courses are incredibly rigorous, with higher academic standards than elsewhere. Most importantly, we are taught to view the patient as a human person and not just a sum of body parts. I’m not sure you get that in other nursing programs.”
Lucy had the chance to study in Gaming, Austria, in the fall 2024 semester.
“My classmates and I were blessed with so many special graces there. Praying in the same holy places where so many saints have lived and prayed is so moving. It’s also incredible going to Mass all over the world and seeing that God is present in the Eucharist everywhere, no matter the language or culture.”
She prays daily for the donors who made the St. John Paul II Scholarship possible.
“Coming here has led me to take the faith more seriously and spend more time praying and reflecting on what it means to be Catholic and how to live that out. Once you join my prayer list, you don’t leave! I am so grateful to be here preparing to be a Catholic nurse!”
Project-Based Engineering
It’s not all fun and games in Franciscan University’s new Software Engineering Program, but you wouldn’t know it when speaking with junior David Nalywajko. In the past three years, he’s programmed moon-landing minigames, made computers talk to each other, and written code for airsoft gun designs. Now, he’s working on a final project for his electrical engineering class, building—no joke—a real-life battle bot. Yet software engineering at a Catholic university wasn’t originally his goal.
David Nalywajko received a scholarship through the Student Fellows Program.
“I wanted, my whole life, to be an engineer. I wanted to go to the University of Illinois,” David says.
But God (and David’s mother) had other plans. Due to some impactful Steubenville Youth Conferences and parental guidance, the aspiring engineer changed course. He began the search for a college that would help him reach his career goals—and, more importantly, form his faith. David landed on Franciscan, intending to study computer science. Shortly after he applied, the administration announced the opening of a new program: software engineering.
“It’s got the word engineering in it!” he thought at the time. “That sounds like a lot of fun!”
The program has been fun, though David finds significance in the professors’ project-based teaching methods. “From what I’ve seen, the projects are honestly what get people hired in engineering fields,” he says. “It’s actual experience under your belt.”
David is well-integrated in Franciscan student life. He’s taken leadership roles on mission trips and in his household, Fishers of Men.
“Getting to have an authentic and Christ-centered brotherhood is … something I would have only dreamed of in high school,” he says.
He’s felt encouraged to step into leadership roles through the Student Fellows Program, which offers scholarships to standout student leaders. David received this scholarship and is grateful for the opportunity to attend Franciscan and form “amazing, authentic friendships.” The Student Fellows Program equips student fellows with tools to thrive in their vocations, and their approach to leadership has significantly impacted David’s attitude toward his own leadership roles.
“You’re there not to satisfy your own pride or to get something for yourself but to serve the people that you’re leading,” he says. “Christ is the epitome of all this. He is our King and yet he died … on the cross.”
David believes his education has put him on the path to success in the world of software engineering. He recognizes the importance of his chosen field, yet he is not afraid to live out the truth he’s received at Franciscan.
“I’m going into a field where I’m making the next advances in AI,” he says. “I can bring my ethics to the table and help, on an individual level, to bring software engineering closer to holiness.”
A Built-in Ethical Code
Maddie Doan wanted to play sports at the collegiate level. But her main priority was an authentically Catholic higher education.
“I applied to all the schools on the Cardinal Newman list. That was my search criteria!” she says.
Due to financial concerns, however, Maddie decided to attend a school closer to her family in San Diego, even though she wouldn’t have the chance to play basketball.
Maddie Doan, Spirit of St. Francis Scholarship awardee.
Then, she had a surprise phone call from her admissions counselor at Franciscan University.
“He told me, ‘You got the Spirit of St. Francis Scholarship; it covers your full tuition!’ I was so excited I would be able to play basketball at a dynamically Catholic school.” The Spirit of St. Francis Scholarship, funded in part by gifts to the capital campaign, provides full-tuition assistance to outstanding students with a high level of need whose goals exemplify Franciscan’s mission.
Maddie sees her business management coursework as part of her faith formation.
“The more classes I take, the more excited I become. You can get your MBA anywhere, but having an ethical moral code built into the curriculum and having professors who start every class with prayer and who are such strong witnesses to the faith really inspire a sense of business as a vocation and a path to holiness.”
Studying business in the new Christ the Teacher Hall has further enhanced this experience.
“The new building has encouraged a lot of community. The Sacred Heart Chapel is right there near the classrooms on the business wing, and it’s moving to remember that He is there in all our studies. Also, the artwork is so beautiful and keeps us focused on Christ as we go to and from class.”
Her experience playing basketball, softball, and volleyball has also been a source of grace.
‘“You can’t become a saint if you are slothful. Saints are very virtuous and disciplined. Sports at Franciscan instill that into you. The programs are about helping us grow as individuals, not focusing only on athletic talent but also the whole human person. Also, I have been so encouraged by my teammates. They all show a self-sacrificial love for each other, and they aren’t in it just for themselves.”
Maddie’s outlook in her senior year is one of gratitude, especially to the people who made the Spirit of St. Francis Scholarship and her time at Franciscan possible.
“I want to tell each and every donor thank you for giving me and so many of my classmates the opportunity to come here. I have grown so much closer to Jesus and been empowered to take responsibility for my faith. The fatherhood Father Dave and the other friars have modeled and the friendships made here only make that stronger. Being at Franciscan has given me an education, but even more importantly, it has formed me in the faith, and I am so grateful for that.”
New Catholic, New PhD Student
In early 2024, Taylor Bodoh stood at the pulpit of his Anglican church in Tallahassee, Florida, and made an announcement to his congregation.
They’d known for some months he would be stepping away from his position as vicar. But today, he announced he was also planning to convert to Roman Catholicism.
It was four years prior that Taylor felt the first twitch upon the thread, having discovered a growing interest in Catholicism. This “terrified” him.
“There’s nothing that would have caused the unity of our family to be on the altar in the same way as responding to the truth of God,” he says.
Taylor wrestled with the Lord in prayer and study, met with a Catholic priest, and entered counseling with his wife, Karissa, to safeguard their marriage. His family agreed they would explore Catholicism together. He received the Sacrament of Confirmation on February 25, 2024, after resigning his priestly orders on Christmas Eve of 2023.
Soon, he was put in contact with the Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, which welcomes converted Anglican clergy to maintain their priestly offices in communion with Rome. Taylor felt it wasn’t the right time.
“I needed to actually learn what it means to be a son in the Catholic Church before just jumping in to be a father,” he says. Taylor first heard about Franciscan University’s PhD in Theology while exploring college options for his daughters. The program had recently received a large portion of the financial support needed from the Rebuild My Church Campaign, which allowed Franciscan to launch this long dreamed for way of providing additional service to the Church. He applied and joined four other students in the inaugural PhD class in fall 2024, receiving a full scholarship and a stipend to help his family pay the bills after a drastic career change and cross-country move. “It was really important for my family, this PhD program,” he says. Together, Taylor and Karissa moved with their three children, Avila, Norah, and Judah, to Mingo Junction, Ohio, as Taylor began his studies. Amidst the unknowns, Taylor feels he and his family are being called to radical trust in the Lord. “He didn’t promise this was going to be easy or I would have something to show for it. Jesus says no one who’s left home or wife or children will fail to receive many times as much in this life and in the age to come,” he says. He will doubtlessly continue to make sacrifices as he works to complete his doctorate and continues to raise a family. But Taylor knows the voice of his Shepherd: “Even though I was resigning my Anglican orders, even though I had to stand in front of our congregation and tell them… I knew it was the same Jesus. And that’s brought a sense of stability to the transition … that the Lord has been with me, and that it’s the same Lord Jesus that I have known.”
Rebuild My Church Campaign Success
TOTAL RAISED: $126,100,000 (as of January 2025)
TOTAL DONORS: 3,050
TOTAL ALUMNI DONORS: 1,100
TOTAL ALUMNI GIVING: $28.6M
TOTAL FACULTY AND STAFF DONORS: 150
BOARD OF TRUSTEES GIVING AMOUNT: $45M
Total Raised for Each Component
• Christ the Teacher Academic Hall and Event Center
Total Raised: $55M (Includes $2.1M in interest)
• Scholarships and Financial Aid
Total Raised: $40.8M
• Outreach and Evangelization
General: $2,934,710
PhD Theology Program: $2,679,389
Total Raised: $5.6M
• Center for Leadership and Entrepreneurship
Total Raised: $2M
• Criminal Justice Program
Total Raised: $1M
• Nursing SIM Laboratory
Total Raised: $1M
• Christ the King Chapel Renovation and Expansion
Total Raised: $12.6M
• Washington, D.C., Extension
Total Raised: $10M
Learn More: giving.franciscan.edu
