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Alumni Association Sesquicentennial Initiatives

Alumni of Saint Lawrence Seminary, generation after generation, have always left their proud mark upon our Alma Mater.

When “Saint Lawrence College” celebrated its 75th Anniversary in 1935, the alumni joined together to present the school with the statue of Saint Lawrence of Brindisi that still adorns the courtyard.

Now it is our turn.

As the 150th Anniversary of Saint Lawrence Seminary is celebrated in 2010, our generation of grateful Sons of Calvary challenges itself to touch the future of SLS with the following three Sesquicentennial Initiatives:

Initiative One: Alumni Field

The seminary athletic programs helped build the character and self-confidence of so many alumni. The former football field is now the soccer field, a source of strength and pride on campus for this generation of students and alumni.

The former track has fallen into disrepair and can no longer be used for meets. Track still enjoys large student participation, but all of our meets must be held at venues other than St. Lawrence.

The Alumni Association pledges itself to recreate the track and soccer fields below the Hill. This will include proper irrigation for the field and a regulation asphalt track around it. New high jump and long jump pits will also be created. A storage shed will be needed for hurdles and other new equipment. This will become a “Snack Shack” for all events below the Hill.

If the funds can be raised by SLS Alumni, a new soccer scoreboard closer to the field will carry into the future the banner: “Alumni Field.” Immortalized on this scoreboard will be the names of all major contributors to Alumni Field. Our hope is to dedicate “Alumni Field” as part of the Hilltopper Reunion festivities in September 2011.

Initiative Two: Music and Arts Program

As many alumni as have been touched by athletics, even more have grown through band, choir, plays, forensics and the fine arts programs. In grateful recognition of how these great traditional programs have enhanced our lives, the Alumni Association pledges itself to bring the fine arts programs into the new century complete with new instruments, remodeled practice areas, new hymnals and upgraded academic curriculum in music appreciation, art history and graphic arts.

In the coming century, Saint Lawrence Seminary’s music and arts programs will offer strong appeal to prospective students and grow even further as a model program for Catholic secondary education.

The liturgical life of the seminary community has always been richly blessed by our outstanding music programs. This fund will further develop these programs and thus enhance the prayer and spiritual life of the community into the future.

This Music and Arts Fund will be another gift of the Alumni Association in grateful recognition of the spiritual growth we experienced during our years on the Hill.

Initiative Three: Saint Lawrence Building Fund

Foremost in our memories of Saint Lawrence Seminary must be our classmates and the setting in which we grew together in brotherhood and friendship. And so, the Alumni Association wishes to preserve, restore and enhance the campus buildings to serve the coming generations of Sons of Calvary.

Saint Anthony Hall is where most alumni began this journey. Its outer brickwork is crumbling on the north side. Saint Francis Hall has been home to most alumni in their final year on the Hill. Its west entrance needs attention and the tile flooring needs to be replaced. The chimney next to Saint Thomas Hall must come down for fear it may fall down, and there is never money in the budget to do it. The Saint Fidelis Hall west façade brickwork all needs replacing. And the boiler in Saint Thomas Hall is a major challenge that must be faced in our near future.

The maintenance and repair work on this time-honored and aging campus is never-ending. These are a few of the major projects this alumni fund will move forward. They are items alumni can picture in their mind’s eye and things only an alumnus would notice. The Saint Lawrence Building Fund will safeguard these treasured buildings well into the new century.

Be Among the Sesquicentennial Leaders

Fundraising for these three Alumni Association Sesquicentennial Initiatives begins now. This effort will continue until the close of 2011. It is our ambitious and grateful goal to fund each of these three initiatives with $150,000.

All alumni, alumni family members or friends who contribute $150 or more to one of these initiatives will have their name inscribed in the Sesquicentennial Book of Honor in the Laurentianum.

For gifts of $1,500 or more, your name or the name of someone you wish to honor or memorialize will be inscribed on the Alumni Field Score Board or on the Sesquicentennial Plaque in the Main Building.

You have the option to participate in any or all of these projects. Please help begin the next 150 years by supporting one or all of these initiatives for the lasting good of tomorrow’s Sons of Calvary for generations of young men to come.

You may donate now, or at any time in the future, by sending your donation to: St. Lawrence Seminary Development Office, 301 Church Street, Mt. Calvary, WI 53057-0505. You may also use your credit card for a single gift or for recurring charges towards your pledge by calling the Development Office at (920) 753-7503. With your donation, you will be insuring that another young man will have a similar opportunity to grow here at St. Lawrence Seminary.