By 2001, the Spirit of St. Mary's fund-raising campaign, which began in 1997, had raised $195.5 million, exceeding its goal by $45.5 million. College officials say Colbrandt pledged 57 percent of the total -- $112 million, a figure that far eclipsed the school's previous record pledge of $10 million.
Colleges often ask large donors to sign contracts laying out payment schedules, and St. Mary's received "written documented pledges from Conrad Colbrandt," Holtz said in an e-mail to The Chronicle. Campus officials won't say why they maintained confidence in the pledge as the years passed.
Colbrandt's relationship to St. Mary's at the time he promised the money is not clear. He is not an alumnus, and he didn't become a member of the advisory board of regents until 2000.
It is highly unusual for any college to receive a pledge as large as Colbrandt's, especially one like St. Mary's, which has only 4,000 students. Just 25 colleges and universities nationwide have received a gift in excess of $112 million since 1967, and most are large universities such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education -- although its list is incomplete and does not include the pledge to St. Mary's.
We have a St. Mary's University here in Texas, I was wondering if the one in this article are one and the same.