On Sept. 18, Villanovans from around the world came together to honor the past, strengthen the present, and celebrate the future. For 24 hours, students, faculty, alumni and the expansive community worked together with the goal of reaching 5,000 individual donations. 

This year, amid the excitement surrounding the noticeable upgrades to campus, donations poured in. On campus, students participated in various social events that included rewatching the 2016 and 2018 National Championship games, pizza, student performances and raffle giveaways. For those off-campus and out-of-state, the University hosted a Facebook Live broadcast featuring progress updates, interviews, classroom tours and student performances.

The University’s second ever day of giving culminated with 5,778 donors raising close to $4.8 million. The money reflects contributions to various campaigns including the Villanova Annual Fund, which raised more than $292,000 and the Villanova Scholarship Fund, which brought in $35,200 from 286 donors.

A theme for this year’s day of giving was “What Does Villanova Mean to You?” Faculty, students, and alumni were asked to provide a word or phrase that best describes their time at Villanova. Dean Adele Lindenmyer of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences chose to spotlight one word when thinking about her experience at Villanova. 

“That word would be opportunity,” she said. “Opportunities as a young faculty member to develop new courses, explore new research opportunities in my field of history, and then opportunities to enter University Administration and finally to lead [the University’s] oldest and largest college.”

Adding another theme to 1842 Day was the online leaderboards. Igniting friendly competition among Villanovans, leaderboards tracked donation totals and donor contributions for varsity sports teams, graduating classes and states.  Some notable groups that led their respective categories are men’s basketball with $42,797, undergraduate alumni with 2,920 donors, the class of 1987 with 146 donors and the city of Philadelphia with 1,330 gifts. 

The money raised from 1842 Day will undoubtedly help the University continue its pursuit of overall excellence. A common mantra for the day was, “how do we make a great place greater?”

Rooted in the University’s values of truth, unity and love, 1842 Day demonstrates a tangible manifestation of the community’s culture of giving. Once again, 1842 Day gave Villanovans an opportunity to come together and exceed expectations.