Since it was built in 1925, the bell tower atop LeMans Hall at Saint Mary’s College had never held a bell. That changed this past weekend.
A church bell was heard for the first time Saturday at LeMans Hall, when they unveiled a new bell secretly installed last week after it was shipped from a New England church.
The bell signaled the launch of the public phase of the all-female college’s Ring Out, Ring True campaign to raise $200 million. They raised $180 million of that in the quiet phase.
College President Katie Conboy says those bells signal new access to college for many. Conboy says Saint Mary’s has added nearly 300 students over the past several years, bringing enrollment up to over 1,600.
"We also know that these students that we're recruiting, many of them come to us with significant need. 31% of them in next year’s class are first in their family to go to college," Conboy said. "30% of them are students of color. We are just recruiting such fabulous students but many times they come to us with needs for tuition fees and also needs that go beyond tuition and fees.”
So the college has raised almost $60 million for scholarships and $9 million to create an Office for Student Empowerment to help those students with unforeseen costs.
"That allows us to meet some of those non-tuition and fee expenses that students might come to the college and not realize that they actually have to buy those tickets to go to Notre Dame football games. Or they might need regalia and not be able to afford to rent their regalia. Their parents might not be able to come for family weekends, or they might need a laptop computer, so all of those things are paid for by a separate fund through the Office for Student Empowerment.
Conboy says many alumnae have given gifts aimed at helping students in need excel not only at Saint Mary's but beyond.
"Most of our students who are able to land a job immediately after graduation are people who came to Saint Mary's with their own network. They already knew people. Their families knew people. They were able to reach out and leverage those networks, but when you have 30% or more of your students, first in their family to go to college, they come without those networks. So we want to be sure we've leveled the playing field for every student to be able to have the advantage of those experiential learning opportunities that will make the difference beyond the degree."
