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Villanova Celebrates the Season at
Steinway Hall
 New
York City was brought nearly to a standstill on December 5 by a snowstorm
that snarled traffic and jammed trains in and out of the city. But inside
of Steinway Hall in midtown, all was in elegant readiness for Villanova’s
annual Christmas celebration. Would the guests make it? Would they give
up after two or three attempts to get through?
Not a chance. This year, despite the elements,
75 alumni, friends and family gathered in a spirit of holiday congeniality
to celebrate the season and toast the University’s capital campaign,
Transforming Minds and Hearts: The Campaign for Villanova.
In what has become something of a tradition,
Villanova celebrated its 10th Christmas in Steinway Hall. The event was
hosted by Robert M. Birmingham ’66, former owner and director of
Steinway & Sons. In welcoming guests, he said, “I am pleased
to welcome so many of our guests who managed to overcome the elements
to be here.”
The celebration also provided an opportunity
to reflect on the successes of the Campaign’s first two years while
looking forward to challenges of the third, critical year of the quiet
phase.
“This event is the perfect setting
to celebrate the generosity of those who have made this campaign so successful
during the first two years of the quiet phase,” said University
President, Rev. Edmund J. Dobbin, O.S.A. ’58. A highlights of the
evening was the announcement of the largest single outright gift by an
individual—a $2.5 million commitment from Terence M. O’Toole
’80 and his wife, Polly, to endow the dean of the College of Commerce
and Finance through a charitable foundation they established.
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