“Feeling gratitude 
and not expressing it 
is like wrapping a present 
and not giving it.”
William Arthur Ward

I met two young men this afternoon at Java Beach Café on Sloat Boulevard in San Francisco. One of them was sporting a Saint Ignatius Rowing Club t-shirt. The two Saint Ignatius College Preparatory seniors were sitting at a table discussing options for continuing their education next year. I had heard that the 2025 S.I. football team had qualified to play in the Division III state championship game this weekend, but I didn’t know if the game had been played yet, so I asked them. They were happy to tell me that S.I. won the state championship game last night for the first time, I believe, in school history. Impressive achievement!

I shared that I had graduated from S.I. in 1972, and that my class was the last to experience one year in the “old” S.I. campus at Stanyan & Turk Streets before the move to the present campus on 37th Avenue in the Sunset District. I told them how strange it was for me to see that some of those “new” buildings have been razed to make room for updated educational facilities for the future. One of the guys mentioned that it’s been a challenge going to classes in portable classrooms for his senior year. I wished them luck in their college acceptance processes and went on my way.

As I drove across the Sunset District to attend a book signing event at Holy Name Parish, a strange thought crossed my mind. Long before I was accepted as a student at Saint Ignatius, plans had been made and fundraising had begun to construct the 37th Avenue campus. Most of the donors to the building campaign were people who might never personally benefit from the new facilities. Despite this, the Genesis Campaign was overwhelmingly successful, allowing for the construction of the new and improved campus. The doors to the 37th Avenue campus opened in September 1969, the beginning of my sophomore year.

From north to south, the campus included a four-story residence for the Jesuit community, a chapel, large dining hall, three-story H-shaped classroom building, library, bookstore, and a variety of small offices for student organizations. The southern-most building was a gymnasium and locker room complex. The campus also included a football field, tennis courts, outdoor basketball courts, and a modest student parking lot. Compared to the Stanyan Street campus, the “new S.I.” was palatial. 

I have no doubt that students at the new school were encouraged to be grateful for the generosity of the benefactors who had made such amazing facilities available for our use, but as a student at that time, I have no recollection of ever feeling truly grateful. I think I simply took it all for granted, feeling lucky to be one of the students who benefited from the kindness and generosity of others. I certainly don’t recall ever expressing my gratitude for those who made the new campus a reality.

So today, more than 56 years after the fact, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for all those who, in addition to the tuition they paid, donated substantial amounts of money to provide the funds needed for construction of the new school. I did benefit directly from their generosity, as have more than fifty classes of S.I. students since that time. I am well aware that most of those who supported the building fund throughout the 1960s have probably passed on by now. Still, I am grateful to them for making sacrifices to provide the venue for Saint Ignatius students to receive a top-quality Jesuit education for generations to come.

Better late than never.

A.M.D.G.