As I complete my fifth year as president of Bellarmine University, I am immensely proud of all that the Bellarmine community has accomplished in that time, and grateful to all of those who make this a special place—students and families, faculty and staff, and especially our wonderful alumni.

 

It has been a joy to meet so many Bellarmine graduates and learn about their transformative student experiences. I had the opportunity to reconnect with some of you and to meet many more during Alumni Weekend on the Hill.

 

This year, we celebrated four classes that had reached milestone anniversaries: the Classes of 1972 (50 years), 1982 (40 years), 1997 (25 years) and 2012 (10 years).  

 

I particularly enjoyed initiating our 1972 graduates into Bellarmine’s prestigious 50th Anniversary Society, where they joined the Classes of 1954 through 1971. The event was held in the lovely historic home known as Boxhill, gifted to Bellarmine by the late Dr. Allan Lansing and his wife, Donna.

 

When you have such robust attendance 50 years after students graduated, you know that you are dealing with a very special institution. In addition to catching up with classmates and reminiscing about the good old days, the class enthusiastically embraced the opportunity to provide the Bellarmine experience to future students by raising more than $130,000 for the Class of 1972 Endowed Scholarship Fund.  

 

Also during Alumni Weekend, we feted the 2022 Alumni Association Award winners, an impressive group including successful attorneys, influential educators, a decorated Army officer and the four founders of Bellarmine’s Military and Veterans Advisory Council. I was delighted to help recognize and honor their successes and the ways in which they are living Bellarmine’s mission in the world.  They are tremendous ambassadors for Bellarmine—as are all of our more than 27,000 alumni. You are living proof of Bellarmine's importance to our city, our region and the world.

 

You are also our greatest advocates, and we hope you will help us recruit new students who would benefit from the same transformational Bellarmine experience that you enjoyed. In fact, we have a special campaign called “Know a Knight” going on right now. If you know someone who should be a Knight, please refer them to us by submitting this online form.

 

If that someone is your child or grandchild, be sure to explore the details of our new Legacy Scholarship. It’s renewable for four years, for a total savings of $4,000.

 

We are committed to keeping a Bellarmine education affordable and accessible to as many students as possible. More than one-third of our students are first-generation students—the first in their families to pursue a bachelor’s degree. The generous support of our alumni and other friends is helping us to achieve this goal.

 

As always, I welcome your ideas and suggestions for your alma mater at president@bellarmine.edu. Our alumni represent not only Bellarmine’s foundation, but also its future.