Welcome to a new academic year at DSPT! The School especially welcomes new members of our community to the DSPT family, and greets its returning students and faculty and staff.
As another academic year begins, DSPT is experiencing the benefits and challenges of its steady growth. Reflecting on last year's enormous challenges and accomplishments allows us another opportunity to share our joy, pride and gratitude to our benefactors, friends, and community that continue to support and sustain our mission.
The DSPT Annual Fund campaign, made possible by community support, is the cornerstone of DSPT’s fundraising efforts. The Annual Fund provides essential funding to virtually every area of the school’s operation.
Today, lay and religious students who are enrolled at DSPT are just as idealistic and enthusiastic as their counterparts some 40 – 50 years ago. One substantial difference, however, is that students today often incur significant financial debt as they prepare for ministry. In the case of our Dominican brothers preparing for ordination, DSPT receives a subsidy from the Western Dominican Province; but still, the subsidy does not cover the whole cost of educating a seminarian.
In 2008-2009 the actual cost of educating a DSPT student was $24,500 a year; although the full time tuition is $13,500. In essence, every student receives a subsidy of $11,000. It is important to also keep in mind that School’s full-time student population receive a third of their tuition in the current academic year.
As the school is committed to increasing financial aid and scholarships available to all students, it needs the renewable, steadily increasing, and long-term support from the Annual Fund. Faced by challenges, such as raising funds in a difficult economic environment, DSPT must keep its sights high and far beyond the immediate details of the budget crisis, with which so many educational institutions have spent so much time dealing.
This year, as DSPT embarks upon a rebranded fund-raising campaign, it is emphasizing to donors, volunteers and the community that it is continuing to excel even as it takes prudent steps to navigate uncertain fiscal terrain.
DSPT will kick off its Annual Fund campaign this year with its annual Sunday in Spain dinner and auction event. Known to its constituents as its annual auction fundraiser, Sunday in Spain has now evolved into an event that will help DSPT spread the word to a broader audience about DSPT’s mission and its impact. This is why support for it is crucial.
The support that DSPT will get from the local community is absolutely critical, and the School wants to take steps to continue to grow it. But as the School moves forward, it also will be casting a wider net that extends beyond our local area. The Annual Fund campaign will continue that growth by targeting alumni and members of communities in other parts of the nation and overseas. Tapping new sources is especially important in times of economic hardship because it enhances the School’s prospects for success.
Sunday in Spain will reach out to members of the community, who might not think that they have the financial wherewithal to make meaningful gifts, by explaining that giving at any level is helpful and appreciated. The event will seek to underscore the real-life impact of donations, including by giving lay and religious students the opportunity to tell how they have benefited from the support of the community.
With your support, DSPT has made great strides in the past years, but it is just a beginning. The School, more than ever, needs your endorsement of our future efforts and your assistance in enabling these efforts in ensuring that we sustain our mission going forward.
For more information on supporting DSPT, please visit our “Support DSPT” page in our website.
