Newman recognizes donors at first 'Beata Benefactors Banquet'

Million-dollar donors honored

More than 90 guests gathered in the Dugan-Gorges Conference Center Nov. 5 to be honored for their support of Newman University at the inaugural Beata Benefactors Banquet, a special event designed to recognize and thank major donors to the university.

The event also served to formally announce three new giving societies at Newman, one of which honors donors of $1 million or more. The new societies are:

The 1933 Society, which honors and celebrates individual donors who have given a cumulative amount of $1 million or more in cash gifts to the university. The 1933 in the title refers to the year Newman was founded as Sacred Heart Junior College.
The Sacred Heart Society, which honors and celebrates individual donors who give $25,000 or more in cash gifts during the university’s fiscal year.
The Monsignor McNeill Society, which honors and celebrates individual donors who give between $10,000 and $24,999 in cash gifts during the university’s fiscal year. This Society is named for Monsignor Leon McNeill, the first President of Sacred Heart Junior College.

Among those honored at the Nov. 5 Beata Benefactors Banquet were members of the 1933 Society, which honors donors who have given a cumulative amount of $1 Million to Newman University. Pictured are, l-r: U.S. Region Leader Barbara Hudock, ASC, representing the Adorers of the Blood of Christ; Father Mike Simone, representing the Catholic Diocese of Wichita; Dana and Larry Fugate; and Via Christi CEO Jeff Korsmo, representing Via Christi Health. Each received a statuette of the university’s namesake Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman. 1933 Society members not pictured are Marilyn and John Dugan; Joan Eck; Kathy and Patrick O’Shaughnessy; the I.A. O’Shaughnessy Foundation, and the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation.

The evening included remarks by several Newman University officials, including Newman Chair of the Board of Trustees Linda Snook Davison, who welcomed the guests. Newman President Noreen M. Carrocci, Ph.D. then thanked the donors for their support and explained the name of the banquet, which will be an annual event at Newman.

Beata is Latin for “blessed,” Carrocci explained, a fitting title to “describe our reality, because we truly are blessed by your generosity.” Carrocci added that Beata is also the name of Mother Beata Netemeyer, ASC, who was the provincial of the Wichita Adorers of the Blood of Christ in the 1930s and played a major role in the founding of Sacred Heart Junior College.

Newman Vice President for University Advancement J.V. Johnston served as emcee for the event. He introduced Newman students Blair Benton, Ruben Lerma and Jonathon Segovia, three scholarship recipients who thanked the donors and spoke about their experiences at Newman.

Johnston also announced the new giving societies and recognized their members, and honored members of two existing Newman giving societies. They are:

The De Mattias Society, which honors and celebrates individual donors who give between $1,000 and $9,999 in cash gifts during the university’s fiscal year. The society is named for St. Maria De Mattias, the foundress of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, the founding and sponsoring order of Newman University.
The Newman Society, which honors and celebrates individual donors who have made a commitment to support Newman University through a planned, deferred or perpetual gift.

Each of the attending members of the societies was presented with a gift by Carrocci.

To see more photos from the event, click here to see the Flickr album.