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While not an alumna of 91����, Martha Reichert — a member of its Board of Governors — knows well the good that TAC does in the lives of its alumni. Her eldest daughter, Meghan, is a member of the Class of 2018, and her youngest, Nancy (’23), is on pace to graduate next year. “My husband and I frequently tell others that we view TAC as providing the best Catholic higher education in the world,” she once remarked.

“Martha and Tim love the College,” adds Vice President for Advancement Paul J. O’Reilly (’84). “And they want to do all they can to encourage alumni to support our alma mater in this, our 50th Anniversary year.”

To that end, the Reicherts have generously contributed a matching gift to promote Monday’s , set on the Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas. “They have given alumni a wonderful opportunity,” says Dr. O’Reilly. “They will match any gift made between now and March 7, up to $75,000 total. All alumni gifts will effectively be doubled.” 

Should alumni make full use of the Reicherts’ $75,000 match, TAC’s Annual Fund will gain $150,000 for student financial aid, thereby breaking the previous record for the Alumni Day of Giving, set just last year: $141,226.

“Of course, that’s just one of many reasons to give,” adds Dr. O’Reilly. “We’re holding  a contest to see which class will have the highest percentage of alumni giving, with the winning class to be honored with a display in the St. Thomas Hall rotunda. We’re also hoping to unseat Princeton and reclaim our rightful title as the college with the highest alumni-giving rate in the U.S.”

Additionally, all alumni who make a gift of $50 or more will be entered into a raffle for a one year’s subscription to coffee beans from Verso L’alto Coffee Roasters, a family business owned by Hannah (Flanders) and Johnny Richard (both ’13) and sister Samantha Flanders (’15). And, for the second year, the allows benefactors to make tribute gifts in honor of fellow alumni, tutors, chaplains — or anyone else — which will be displayed, with a photograph, throughout the Alumni Day of Giving.

Yet the best reason for alumni to give, says Dr. O’Reilly, is gratitude. “Through their gift but, even more, by their example, the Reicherts are demonstrating that this college and its academic program are treasures worth preserving and blessings worth making available to as many as possible,” he explains.  “We alumni, who have benefitted directly from this education, have the privilege and the duty to help make it available for the next generation.”