by Vince Anch
On Oct. 12, the Catholic Education Foundation hosted its annual Gaudeamus gala at the Overland Park Convention Center.
Over 1,200 people attended to see Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann receive CEF’s Lifetime Achievement Award. The dinner raised a record amount of approximately $3.5 million, which will go a long way toward helping CEF provide over $5 million in scholarships this school year.
Some of the proceeds from Gaudeamus will be used to create a new scholarship named after Archbishop Naumann. The funds will support “working poor” families who do not qualify for public assistance but can’t afford tuition. This new scholarship, called the Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann Legacy Scholarship, will begin providing scholarships next school year.
Special guest speakers included Msgr. Ted Wojcicki who traveled from St. Louis to honor his lifelong friend. He was very funny sharing stories about the archbishop from his younger days.
Several local dignitaries also paid homage to the archbishop via a tribute video. Kansas City Chiefs’ kicker Harrison Butker sent his own tribute video congratulating the archbishop and thanking him for all he has done for Catholic education.
“This was a surprise for the archbishop and a big hit,” remarked RJ Gildea, board chair for CEF.
Every Gaudeamus features a student speaker who is a CEF scholarship recipient. This year’s speaker was Jaime Vega, a senior at Bishop Ward High School in Kansas City, Kansas. He, too, was a big hit for the crowd as he thanked the audience and CEF for giving him scholarships that helped his family afford to send him to Catholic schools. Jaime is interning at a prestigious engineering firm and plans to study engineering in college.
“This would not be possible without CEF and its generous donors,” he shared.
This year, approximately 2,000 children are in need of CEF scholarships to continue their Catholic education; 225 children are attending Catholic schools for the first time because of CEF support. Two thousand scholarships will be a record for CEF. This will total about $5.2 million this year.
Committee chairs for Gaudeamus were Pat and Mel McAnany. Terry and Peggy Dunn served as honorary chairs and Craig and Karen Gaffney chaired the patrons committee.
Individuals or organizations who wish to support CEF’s scholarships or the new Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann Legacy Scholarship can do so online at: cefgala.org. One hundred percent of donations will go directly to scholarships and be matched.
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