Thank you for helping us meet the Bezos Match

WE DID IT! YOU DID IT! We made the Bezos Challenge Match—the contents in CTB’s PO Box this morning got us to $523,238.67. WE DID IT!

Why do we do it? Take a look at this photo for the answer.

You’ll see Brandon Thomas, M.Ed. and Khundmeer Syed, Chicagoans and members of Arrupe’s Class of 2017, now colleagues together on the west coast at the University of San Francisco.

After Brandon completed his associate degree at Arrupe, he continued at Loyola University Chicago, where he eventually attained a master’s degree in higher education student affairs. Brandon worked in student services at Marymount University in northern Virginia, and is now serving at USF, where he works in student housing. Also at USF is Brandon's Arrupe classmate, Khundmeer Syed. Khundmeer attended Georgetown University post-Arrupe, and after completing his computer science degree there, he went on for a master’s in educational technology at USF. Khundmeer created his own firm, Moon Technology, and also serves as a resident minister at USF. Khundmeer collaborates with our friends at The Dream.US, which provides scholarships for undocumented students, and he also collaborates with me as a member of Come to Believe’s board of trustees. Brandon serves on Arrupe College’s alumni board.

Khundmeer and Brandon were members of Arrupe’s inaugural class. The Dougherty Family College at the University of St. Thomas graduated their inaugural class in 2019. Soon Butler University and the College of Mt. St. Vincent will be enrolling their inaugural classes.

Jackie and Mike Bezos want to see more inaugural classes at more colleges based on Come to Believe’s model. So do you. Many thanks to the CTB community for your generosity and for believing in students like Brandon and Khundmeer, once Arrupe students and now professionals in education and technology, now leaders.

On behalf of CTB, and on behalf of future inaugural classes, thank you to the Bezoses and to all in our community who contributed to what has become a million dollar match. We did it!