As the captains of the Challenge Drive enter into Hughes Hall, the chairman asks a burning question, “How much money do you think the drive raised this year? Over $500,000 raise your hand,” and all the hands go up. Next, he says, “Over $800,000 raise your hand.” Now, only a few hands go up, forcing the chairman to announce the grand total. After taking a deep breath, he excitedly exclaims, “We have raised $1,049,000!”
In its 44th year, the main purpose of the Challenge Drive every year is to enable Jesuit to lower the cost of tuition so more students can afford to attend, regardless of their ability to pay.
Mr. BJ Antes, Senior Director of Jesuit Advancement and swim coach, said that the drive “bridges the gap between what Jesuit charges for tuition versus the actual cost of what it takes operationally to run the school each year.” Chairman Mr. Joseph Coleman added that “it contributes to Jesuit’s ability to fulfill its mission of being a school available to all boys regardless of financial ability.”
To collect these donations, the captains organize the group through a pyramid structure. First comes the chairman. The prerequisite for being chairman includes being the father of a senior at Jesuit. Next comes the co-chairman who must be the father of a junior. Antes said that “in each grade we have eight co-chairs who select five or six captains. We ask those captains to make five or six phone calls to get the word out to support the appeal.”
The chairman of the Challenge Drive must be someone “who has the capacity to lead, who wants to lead and who understands the mission, who can put the time in, etc. He also could have been a successful co-chair in the years leading up,” said Mr. Antes.
The responsibilities of the Challenge Drive are split between the school and parents. According to Antes, his responsibilities include “communicating the things that the chairman needs to do each year and [helping] the staff with social events for the leadership to help get everyone together to enforce the message of the drive.” Joseph Coleman added that “over 185 parents volunteer a lot of time to make the Challenge Drive great. In short, the Challenge Drive is truly a team effort between Jesuit, parent volunteers and parent contributors.”
The drive is a challenge between other grade levels to determine which class has given the most money. “It is all friendly competition only because we are all on the same team,” said Coleman. “The challenge drive is now meant to be a competition to see which class participates the most,” explained Antes.
Because this year’s drive set the record for the largest amount raised, the next chair will have big shoes to fill. The Challenge Drive helps Jesuit in so many ways, and Jesuit is blessed with a community that freely gives of their time, talent and treasure.
