Recent AMU appeal letter paints bleak economic picture for future of Florida enterprise

The following is taken from a recent AMU fundraising letter signed by Fr. Fessio. The most pertinent parts are excerpted below, with the full letter following. (All bolds from letter have been added for emphasis)
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"When you add this to the fact that we are presently still a rather small and unaccredited institution a long way trom most population centers in the U.S., with a limited number of majors, it's clear to me that our growth will necessarily be slow over the next few years.

We've also found that many students who are not yet ready for the academic or the spiritual challenges withdraw after they've been here for a semester or two. So it's clear we can't easily solve the problem of recruiting enough students to improve our financial situation by casting a wider net.
I am concerned, however, that there are many students who want to come here but lack the necessary financial resources. It is critical for us that we provide both merit and needs-based scholarships so those students who appreciate and would benefit from the unique education we give here can come.

To that end I'm starting a task force of Regents to raise money precisely for scholarships that will help us increase our enrollment and our retention. Without such a scholarship fund, we are going to incur deficits over the next few years which will be unsustainable."
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1025Commons Circle Naples, FL 34119
www.avemaria.edu www.avemaria.com

October 18, 2006

Dear ---,

The new freshman class has just arrived, and hard as it is for me to comprehend, they seem to be even better prepared and more spiritually engaged than their predecessors.

The professors I have spoken to have uniformly said that this freshman class is the best they've taught. And I can say that attendance at Mass, Divine Office, and evening Rosary has gottena big boost- and it was already extraordinarily high.

But let me just give you a couple of brief glimpses of the many experiences I've had that give me so much consolation.

On an evening of orientation, I met a mother and father and their two children who were both coming to Ave Maria. I asked them about themselves and they said, "We're unconfirmed Catholics." I assumed they meant that they were recent converts but had not yet received the Sacrament of Confirmation.

I spoke to them at greater length and in our conversation it turned out that the husband had been first a Jehovah's Witness, then a Southern Baptist, but he had then read and prayed himself and his whole family into the Catholic Church.

The mother began telling me about how she thought the most beautiful thing in the world was the Consecrated Host when the priest raised it up after the Consecration. And as she told me, she began to get tears in her eyes. A few days later on two mornings in a row, I noticed that the daughter of this family came up to Communion with her hands crossed across her breast as a sign she wanted only a blessing and not to receive Communion. I doubted very much that she had serious sin on her soul, but I do know people who are very serious about their faith and sometimes become over scrupulous and don't want to receive Communion because they "failed in charity" or some such thing.
So, that evening when I saw her at Evening Prayer, I called her aside and asked her about this. She began to tear up and told me, "But Father, I can't receive Communion. I'm not a Catholic yet." Then I realized that "unconfirmed Catholics" meant that they had made the commitment to enter the Church but had not yet actually been received into the Church. So we talked about getting instruction for her and making it possible for her to receive Our Lord.

The beauty of soul that shone through this young women's face was touching. At one of the same Masses, I noticed a student who received Communion with particular devotion. And, while it takes me a while to get to know the students and distinguish one trom another, she resembled a student who graduated last year and who just recently entered a religious order of women. So I recognized her that evening at the barbecue while she was standing in line. I went up to her and asked her her name and where she was from. It turned out that she is trom a distant province of Canada, so I asked her why she had come so far.

She said that the turning point for her was reading Joseph Pearce's book on Oscar Wilde. I was stunned. Joseph Pearce is our Writer-in-Residence. He's an extraordinarily gifted author. But he's written books on J.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Hilaire Belloc, and G.K. Chesterton. If a high school student had read one of these I'd still have been surprised, because they are works of serious scholarship. But for a woman of her age to have been reading such a serious book on a very profound modem poet with a complicated life story was an amazement to me.

In subsequent conversations, she began to talk about Oscar Wilde's poetry. I was a bit embarrassed because she clearly knew much more about it than I do. I think you can see why my enthusiasm for Ave Maria is unabated and in fact growing. We have a campus full of students like these. Since this is a letter to you as our triend and supporter, I don't mind telling you about a particular problem which this creates.

Because our reputation for academic excellence (average SAT scores for incoming freshman have gone from 1119 to 1140 to 1200 to 1218) and very vibrant spiritual life on campus, the number of academically qualified students mature enough in their faith to respond to what we have to offer here is relatively small. When you add this to the fact that we are presently still a rather small and unaccredited institution a long way trom most population centers in the U.S., with a limited number of majors, it's clear to me that our growth will necessarily be slow over the next few years.

We've also found that many students who are not yet ready for the academic or the spiritual challenges withdraw after they've been here for a semester or two. So it's clear we can't easily solve the problem of recruiting enough students to improve our financial situation by casting a wider net.
I am concerned, however, that there are many students who want to come here but lack the necessary financial resources. It is critical for us that we provide both merit and needs-based scholarships so those students who appreciate and would benefit from the unique education we give here can come.

To that end I'm starting a task force of Regents to raise money precisely for scholarships that will help us increase our enrollment and our retention. Without such a scholarship fund, we are going to incur deficits over the next few years which will be unsustainable. So please help us continue to realize this wonderful vision.

Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J.
Provost

P.S. As with many problems in a new institution, the need for "extra" scholarship funding to cover a probable "added" deficit has crept up on us. It isn't that we did not plan for it. But as a situation unfolds, the problem (or sometimes even crisis) becomes crystal clear. Your generosity is requested, --. And deeply appreciated.