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The Archdiocese
of New York Announces Record Gift of $40 Million
from Christine &
Stephen A. Schwarzman for Inner-City Scholarship Fund’s New
Endowment Campaign
September 21,
2015, New York, NY -- The Archdiocese of New York today
announced the launch of Inner-City Scholarship Fund’s $125
million “Kids Are Our Capital” endowment
campaign led by a record-setting founding gift of $40
million from Christine and Stephen A. Schwarzman along with
a $40 million commitment from the Archdiocese itself. The
Schwarzmans’ gift is the single largest donation in the
Archdiocese’s 207 year history. In addition, Inner-City
Scholarship Fund will raise $45 million in the course of the
campaign as a match to the Schwarzmans’ contribution.
Inner-City Scholarship
Fund provides tuition assistance to children from
underprivileged families attending Catholic schools in the
Archdiocese of New York. By creating an endowment, the
mission will be funded in perpetuity and the scholarships
will no longer be dependent on annual fundraising alone.
Funds from the endowment will begin to be awarded in the
fall of 2016, and will provide for approximately 2,900 new
scholarships annually, a 43% increase over prior years. The
scholarships will be available to current students and new
students who qualify.
The gift was announced during a special visit
to Cathedral High School by Archbishop of New York, Timothy
Cardinal Dolan; the Schwarzmans; and the President of
Inner-City Scholarship Fund, Bloomberg Chairman Peter
Grauer.
“I believe this is the single largest gift
ever made to Catholic elementary and secondary education not
only in our Archdiocese, but in the nation,” said Cardinal
Dolan. “That, when combined with the sacrifices our parents
make to send their children to our schools and the
dedication of our teachers and administrators is a
tremendous gift to our city.
I am so grateful.”
The Schwarzmans first began supporting
Inner-City Scholarship Fund in 2001 after meeting the late
Archbishop of New York, Edward Cardinal Egan. They
previously contributed more than $8 million in tuition
support for 350 students annually.
“We’ve met so many impressive young women and
men from various religious backgrounds,” said Christine
Schwarzman, “They have all benefited greatly from the values
provided by a Catholic school education. Providing future
generations that same opportunity is very important to us.”
Stephen A. Schwarzman added: “Quality education is the
single greatest gift we can provide to young people, and Catholic
schools have been providing it to the children of New York
for a long time with great results.”
“The endowment
campaign we are launching is an essential ingredient to the
long-term stability and success of Inner-City Scholarship
Fund and Catholic education,” said Peter Grauer. “We could
not have asked for a better way to begin, thanks to the
extraordinary generosity of the Schwarzmans.”
Christine
Schwarzman is a Trustee of Inner-City Scholarship Fund and
an active philanthropist. She is a former attorney
specializing in intellectual property, patent, trademark and
copyright law. She is a member of the City of New York, New
York County, New York State and American Bar Associations.
Stephen A.
Schwarzman is an American financier who founded the global
asset management firm Blackstone, where he currently serves
as Chairman and CEO. He serves on numerous civic boards and
is an active philanthropist with a history of supporting
education and schools. His recent philanthropy includes a
historic gift to the New York Public Library in 2007; the
creation of Schwarzman Scholars, an international
scholarship program modeled on the Rhodes Scholarship he
founded in 2013 to educate future leaders about China; and a
2015 gift to Yale University to establish a state-of-the-art campus
center.
Inner-City Scholarship Fund, led by Executive
Director Susan George, was founded in 1971 by the late
Terence Cardinal Cooke and a group of New York City business
leaders whose goal was to preserve Catholic school education
as viable
choice for all children. Today,
Inner-City provides tuition assistance to nearly 7,000
Catholic school students (92% minority and 33%
non-Catholic). An impressive 98% of seniors attending
Inner-City supported schools graduate, and 96% percent
pursue higher education at some of the finest universities
in the nation. The work of Inner-City Scholarship Fund,
through the kindness of its donors, is not
only bettering the lives of students today, but it is
helping shape the character and productivity of New York’s
future workforce as well. |