Boys Hope Girls Hope Honors SLU With Partner in Hope Award

09/17/2020

Saint Louis University received the 2020 Partner in Hope award from Boys Hope Girls Hope. University President Fred P. Pestello, Ph.D., accepted the award during a virtual celebration Thursday.

Pestello thanked Boys Hope Girls Hope for the recognition and congratulated the others honored at the ceremony.

“I am proud of the work we have done together to impact the lives of talented, hardworking students who we will all work for some day,” Pestello said. “I’m particularly thinking about the 12 Boys Hope Girls Hope collegians who are currently enrolled as Billikens, looking for new ways to set the world on fire.”

SLU received the honor for its trailblazing partnership with Boys Hope Girls Hope on robust initiatives to support first-generation college students and help them to graduate without major debt. This includes creating opportunities through a dedicated scholarship fund and an annual partnership with Boys Hope Girls Hope to host Collegiate Prep Week.

The University also helped convene community-based organizations, universities and philanthropists to address opportunities to increase access and degree completion among future first-generation college students at Boys Hope Girls Hope’s inaugural ACTION Think Tank last year.

The first Boys Hope Girls Hope scholar enrolled at Saint Louis University in 2017.

John Stiles, senior development director for SLU, said University leadership recognized the value these students bring to SLU and realized they would need financial support, so the Boys Hope Girls Hope Scholarship was established.

“In late 2018, John and Joan Vatterott challenged the Saint Louis University Development team to raise $25,000 in each of the Boys Hope Girls Hope affiliate cities. The Vatterotts agreed to match each city that collectively met the challenge with a personal gift of $25,000 per city,” Stiles said. “Those funds were then matched through Saint Louis University’s Go Further program, and a $25,000 gift, when matched became $100,000.”

Stiles said close to $1 million has been raised so far for the Boys Hope Girls Hope Scholarship at SLU.

“I’m most proud to report that that first Boys Hope Girls Hope scholar graduated from SLU earlier this year,” Stiles said. “Because of the generosity of the Vatterotts and others who have supported this scholarship, we now have four additional Boys Hope Girls Hope scholars at SLU.”

Boys Hope Girls Hope also honored World Wide Technology (WWT) with the Vatterott Award. The award recognizes World Wide Technology for its partnership to provide funding, host network gatherings, bolster technology and web design, and provide leadership on boards. 

WWT President Joe Koenig serves as the Boys Hope Girls Hope Network Board Chairman, with Juanita Logan, Holly Lind and Laura Weber of World Wide Technology serving on boards in St. Louis, San Francisco and Southern California. Under the leadership of World Wide Technology Founder and Chairman David Steward, Boys Hope Girls Hope has expanded scholarship funds and professional development opportunities for collegians studying in the STEM, business and arts fields. WWT CEO Jim Kavanaugh accepted the honor.

Boys Hope Girls Hope

For over 40 years, Boys Hope Girls Hope has nurtured and guided motivated young people in need to become well-educated, career-ready men and women for others who powerfully shape their workplaces, communities, and families. Today, the organization serves 1,200 motivated young people in its residential learning facilities, community-based academies and colleges. For more information, visit www.boyshopegirlshope.org.

Saint Louis University

Founded in 1818, Saint Louis University is one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious Catholic institutions. Rooted in Jesuit values and its pioneering history as the first university west of the Mississippi River, SLU offers nearly 13,000 students a rigorous, transformative education of the whole person. At the core of the University’s diverse community of scholars is SLU’s service-focused mission, which challenges and prepares students to make the world a better, more just place. For more information, visit slu.edu.