University of St. Thomas President Rob Vischer and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Bill Tolman were recently quoted in a story from MinnPost about the historic $20 million gift to enhance arts education at St. Thomas.
From the story:
Arts education at the University of St. Thomas is getting a boost with a $20 million gift from philanthropist John P. Monahan. It’s the largest donation ever received for the arts at St. Thomas, and it will be used for scholarships, programing, exhibitions and salaries to recruit and retain faculty over multiple years. The funds will be focused around the university’s art history, emerging media, communications studies, as well as the music, film and creative enterprise departments. ...
“At a time when other colleges and universities across the country are pulling back from the arts, we are doubling down,” St. Thomas President Rob Vischer said at the event. “We need to take the arts seriously.” ...
Monahan got into philanthropy about 15 years ago. It started with supporting small theater companies in Palm Springs. “They were in such a need to fund their operating expenses, and that’s how I got started,” he said. “Some of these small theaters came to me and they said, ‘John, is there any way that you can help us?’ And I started doing that.” ...
“That’s what I don’t want to happen here,” he said. “I want the arts elevated at the University of St. Thomas, and I’m hoping my funding will do that.”
Bill Tolman, St. Thomas’ College of Arts and Sciences dean, said discussions around Monahan’s $20 million gift began recently. “It is a big step and a major decision on his part to move forward with this,” Tolman said. “I think it shows his great interest in supporting art education for students at St. Thomas, and also reflects his trust in us to provide that education in a really good way.”
The university has yet to work out the details of how the funds will be distributed, Tolman said. “We’re pretty sure that we want to allocate the funds across scholarships, faculty support for retention and recruitment of faculty and new programming,” he said. “But what that mix looks like is something that we’re still discussing.” In any case, he foresees the gift to be “transformational for years to come.”
