On Columbus Day, Jesuit hosted the MAGIS Golf Classic, an “annual golf tournament benefitting the Jesuit Endowment Fund, Jesuit Alumni Community Service Projects and Jesuit Athletics” according to tournament coordinator, Mrs. Pat Sayers.
Held at the Stonebriar Country Club in Frisco, TX, the tournament occurs every year on Columbus Day. The gathering “was ranked #8 on the list of Charity Golf Tournaments by the Dallas Business Journal.”
Ms. Jessica Harbin explained how the tournament got its start here at Jesuit. “We created this tournament five years ago to take what had been supporting those three entities [the Endowment Fund, Alumni Community Service Projects and Athletics programs], and by combining them, really blow it out of the water and provide a lot more money for those three groups.”
Harbin has been working on the tournament since its inception. She explained that “BJ Antes, our Vice President, is the one that started it. He saw that athletics, alumni, and endowment each had their own tournament, all in the same year. So at least three tournaments that people were getting out to play in.” She went on to explain the fatigue this created, saying “When you ask somebody three different times to play in a golf tournament, they tend to respond like ‘Ugh, another tournament.’ By combining them and pooling all of the resources we’re able to raise around triple the original amount of money.”
Each of the charities that benefit from the tournament assist different facets of our Jesuit community. The Jesuit Endowment Fund, for example, 
provides financial aid for 26% of students at Jesuit. “Anybody here who needs financial aid, that’s where that money goes,” said Harbin. The Jesuit alumni association organizes different service projects throughout the year, so the funds raised by the outing help “offset the costs. For example, if some alumni want to build a house for Habitat for Humanity, you can’t just show up and build a house, you have to actually pay for supplies and other costs.” When it comes to the athletic program it “really runs the gamut, with anything from the booster club, to offsetting annual expenses, to providing extras for each team.”
It also helps us grow closer as a more tightly knit community, with 240 participants in the actual tournament, and 250 vendors and volunteer members. “Generally it’s lots of current parents, parents of graduates, and alumni that put in teams. We’ve found that a lot of teams are corporate. So if you have a business, you could put a team in to entertain your clients.”
After explaining how it all got started, Harbin explained her involvement: “I’ve been involved from the beginning. When BJ came up the idea, I started working here that same year. We just took his idea and really built in the pieces of the puzzle.”
Currently, Mrs. Pat Sayers runs the day to day operations, while Ms. Harbin helps her out with the “fundraising side.”
When Mrs. Sayers was asked why she felt tournament was important as a whole, she stated that “In addition to raising money for financial aid, it is a great community builder. It brings together students, current parents, parents of graduates, Jesuit staff and alumni for a day of fun while showing those from outside the Jesuit community why Jesuit is such a special place.”
Harbin explained her view on how the event best affects our school and community, saying “Events aren’t always wonderful fundraisers, but this one happens to be a really wonderful one. We raise a ton of money for the bottom line that all goes towards helping the kids here. If we can do that and have fun at a golf tournament, then that’s the name of the game.”
If you like golf and want to support our school, try making it out to Stonebriar next year on Columbus Day, not just for a great day of golf but to help our Jesuit community continue to grow.
