Dear Alumni,
Blessings! We have just wrapped the latest edition of the Celebrate the Knight Legacy Gala, and what a night it was! Our largest annual fund-raising event is always an enjoyable evening of fun and fellowship. I was honored to open the evening with a brief introductory talk in which I focused on the theme of "Who we are." I highlighted some of the wonderful people who have graduated from our school. The text from that talk is below.
“Good evening and welcome to the St. Francis Borgia High School Celebrate the Knight Gala. My name is Matt Schutte, and I have the honor of serving as the president of our school. I’m looking forward to a great evening with you, our Borgia family. Our auction chairs Ed and Tayna Guehne and Special Events Director Anne Lober have a great night set up for us.
So…why are we here? There are the obvious reasons -- fellowship, helping out the school, the open bar, the puppy…but we’re all really here because it is who we are. Now, I haven’t been here that long, but since before I started, I’ve had a good idea of who we are, and what we stand for. And there are examples of it everywhere we look.
I’ll start with Bill Marquart, Class of ‘60 - our first auction since Bill’s passing, and we miss him dearly. Ever-present at athletic events and always here for his children and then grandchildren and always ready to sell you one of those $100 Athletic Association raffle tickets, Bill cared so deeply for our school and impressed upon me the importance of stewarding the school properly. That’s who we are.
Our speech and drama teacher Tim Buchheit, Class of '85, is one of many faculty members who are also alumni. Not everyone knows this, but Tim has fought off liver cancer, twice, in the past three years. And whenever he’s needed to get treatment, have follow-up visits, surgeries, whatever, his concern when speaking to the administration is determining how to be the least disruptive to his students and his theatre program. It’s the sort of care our faculty provide. Why? Because that’s who we are.
Recently, we received the largest individual gift in school history - one million dollars for our Endowment, from Juanita and Robert Purcell. Robert is Class of ‘52, and he was effusive in his praise of the priests and nuns who were his teachers, and said they are a major reason he has had success in business and in life, and his gift shows his appreciation for that by giving back. That’s who we are.
That gift was made possible thanks to the stewardship of LB and Bonnie Eckelkamp, Classes of ‘61 and ‘62, and Monsignor Ted Wojcicki. LB and Monsignor Wojcicki worked with the Purcells to advocate for that transformative gift because they believe in what we are doing. They have been tremendous benefactors and friends of the school through their work with the Endowment Fund and in so many other ways because that is who we are.
Recently, I asked an alum who works in St. Louis to serve on our school board. She declined, because, with two young children and her job in the city, she didn’t feel she could devote enough time to the board. She asked that we keep her in mind for an opening down the road. ‘I love that place,’ she said, ‘and I’m happy to help. And I want to move back so my children can attend as well.’ Bringing back family so they can attend our school - that’s who we are.
A few weeks ago, my wife and daughter, who will be a ‘25 graduate, visited Murray State University, where they met Evan Comely, Class of ‘20, who will be graduating from Murray later this spring. Do the math; he’s finishing in three years, thanks to the college credit Evan earned while at Borgia. Evan credited his time here with his ability to succeed at Murray and with giving him the wherewithal to finish early and already have a great job lined up for after graduation. He was very generous with his time in showing my family around and talking up Murray - because that’s who we are.
So you’ve picked up on my theme. Now, the Jesuits at Saint Louis University told me time and time again, there’s no such thing as coincidence. So I’m writing this out this past week, and I get a text. It’s from the president at St. Pius X High School, my former employer, and it includes a grainy photo from a wrestling match. The Borgia wrestling team is in New Madrid, down in the bootheel, for the district wrestling meet. The picture is Hunter Smith ‘24, our heavyweight entrant, and he appears to be warming up a wrestler from another team. The message is this: 'one of your wrestlers is spending time helping the only one from the Missouri School of the Blind, making sure he gets warmed up and to the right spot. Awesome show of sportsmanship.’
Now, if you know wrestlers, you know they are… focused. And Hunter has high hopes of returning to the state championship meet. But instead of spending all his pre-match time getting hyped up, getting himself ready to go, he happily took time to help ensure this blind wrestler from a one-man team has what he needs. And when I see Hunter back on campus, I’m going to thank him, and he’s going to wave it off as no big deal. Why? Because that’s who we are.
So, tonight, when you raise your paddle, or bid online, what you are doing is partnering with us to continue that legacy, to help us keep developing young men and women of character and godliness, to help us grow that group that we point to and say, ‘That’s who we are.’”
–
As always, it is my honor to serve our school community. Have a great Easter!
Sincerely,
Matt Schutte
President
