A good challenge in terribly challenging times
Dear Friends,
These are terribly challenging times. That said, we at the Come to Believe network, or CTB, are not treading water while we wait for the vaccine. Rather, as we consider a post-pandemic perspective, we remain laser-focused on undergraduate success for first generation, Pell eligible, and undocumented students. We are driven by what gets these students across the finish line as they pursue their two-year associate’s degrees—full-time faculty who serve as academic advisors; breakfast and lunch programs; laptops and technology access for each student; social workers; career counseling; financial aid officers; and a culture of community and belonging. The retention and graduation rates of students at CTB-affiliated colleges are transforming the ways universities are reimagining higher education. The success rates are also transforming the lives of our students. They are crossing the finish line in record numbers.
The Bezos Family is focused on student success and transformative education. Like many of you, they have supported CTB with a very generous seed gift as we start up our work to guide other universities who wish to replicate our two-year college model. But the Bezos Family wishes to do more. They have issued a challenge: they will match every gift given to CTB up to $100,000. A good challenge in terribly challenging times. Like you, they know we are living in a time of transformation, a time when our families, our communities, our economy, and our country demand that young women and men successfully complete a postsecondary educational degree in order to contribute to and lead the work of transformation.
Thank you for considering making a gift so that CTB can cross the finish line and meet the Bezos Family challenge match. And, thank you for considering making a gift so that CTB can create more colleges and help more students cross the finish line and complete their degrees successfully. Finally, be assured of my prayers for you for a healthy holiday season. I will remember you during Mass at Christmas.
God’s blessings,
Steve Katsouros, S.J.
President and CEO
Come to Believe Network
New York, New York
You can help us meet the Bezos Family challenge match by sending your gift to Come to Believe Network, P.O. Box 786, New York, NY 10150. Or, you can visit CTB’s website at www.ctbnetwork.org and make a donation via PayPal. If you have any questions or want to learn more about CTB, don’t hesitate to contact me at skatsouros@ctbnetwork.org
Thanksgiving 2020
As Thanksgiving approaches, a difficult Thanksgiving for all of us to navigate, I can remain anchored in gratitude when I think of you.
Dear Friends,
Dr. Jill Biden visited Arrupe College in Chicago in September 2018. As you likely know, Dr. Biden is a professor at a two-year college in Northern Virginia. Dr. Biden’s professional experience and her empathy were apparent when she met with Arrupe students—she listened to their stories, congratulated them on their progress and success, and, especially with some of the more star struck students, she put them at ease. I remember thinking, “She gets it.” She was clearly impacted by the students, by their aspirations and achievements. I was very thankful for her visit, and for my friend, Mark Shriver, for inviting her.
As Thanksgiving approaches, a difficult Thanksgiving for all of us to navigate, I can remain anchored in gratitude when I think of you. Like Dr. Biden, you have listened to my stories of my work at Arrupe College, and you have listened to my plans to replicate the Arrupe model through the Come to Believe (CTB) Network. As my colleague Susan Conniff and I launch CTB in a challenging environment, your support and prayers put us at ease. And, like Dr. Biden, you get it—you get the urgency of opening more colleges like Arrupe and like the Doherty Family College at St. Thomas University, the first replication of the Arrupe model. You have been impacted by the aspirations and achievements of Arrupe and Doherty Family College students, and you see the importance of creating more opportunities for other young women and men like them—first generation, Pell eligible, undocumented, underserved.
Thank you—for listening, for putting me at ease with my new assignment, for getting the importance of CTB. Happy Thanksgiving—and although we will be missing family members and friends at our tables this year, let’s remain together in prayer. I will pray with the Jesuit community here in New York during our Mass on Thanksgiving morning for you and for your health and safety.
God’s blessings,
Steve Katsouros, SJ