DePaul University has received a $1 million challenge grant for scholarships from Harrison Steans, a life trustee and longtime DePaul supporter. The Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M., DePaul University’s president, announced the challenge grant at a May 20 kick-off celebration and picnic that marked the start of the university’s Many Dreams, One Mission Campaign on the university’s Lincoln Park Campus May 20.

The Steans Family Foundation will match any individual gift up to $10,000, dollar for dollar, made to scholarships at DePaul during the Steans Challenge for Scholarships, which concludes Dec. 31, 2010.

"DePaul students are an inspiring group of young people," Steans said. "In fact, they are the inspiration for this fundraising campaign. Each comes with his or her own dream and it is the mission of DePaul, as it has been since the university’s founding, to help fulfill those dreams."

The Many Dreams, One Mission Campaign – the school’s first major comprehensive campaign in almost 40 years and its largest ever – seeks to raise $250 million by June 30, 2014. Some $100 million of that total will be used to secure support for scholarships, helping to ensure that a college education is available to future generations of talented DePaul students.

"Our students work hard to achieve their dreams as they balance academics, work, and service to the community," says Mary Dempsey, chair of DePaul’s Board of Trustees. "More than 80 percent work full time while pursuing their degrees, and a similar number rely on financial aid to underwrite their education. We are very grateful to Harrison Steans for this important and impactful gift."

A long-time supporter of DePaul, Steans, a banker, committed $5 million in 2001 to establish and endow the Irwin W. Steans Center for Community-based Service Learning to expand the university’s integration of academics and community service. The center is named for Steans’ late father Irwin.

For more information or to make a gift online, visit campaign.depaul.edu/steanschallenge.

Related News:

DePaul University Launches $250 Million Many Dreams, One Mission Campaign; $100 Million To Be Raised For New Scholarship Funds

Law School Alumni Give $6.5 Million To Support Scholarships, Legal Clinics At DePaul; Gifts Include The University’s Largest Ever To Scholarships

About DePaul University

With an enrollment of more than 25,000 students, DePaul University is the largest Catholic university and the eighth largest private university in the country. It comprises six Chicagoland campuses, a dynamic and growing "virtual" campus, and academic and service-learning programs in 40 countries.

Today some 90,000 DePaul graduates live and work in the Chicago area – in its courts and law offices, government agencies, health and social services facilities, cultural institutions, religious organizations, schools, financial centers and commercial enterprises of every kind. Another 48,000 graduates contribute to the economic, social, cultural and spiritual lives of communities around the world.

Media Contact: Paul M. Baker, director, Advancement Communications, (312) 362-5897, pbaker5@depaul.edu.