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Saint Mary's College has received a generous gift of $2.7 million from the Carl Gellert and Celia Berta Gellert Foundation that will be used to support areas of highest priority for the College.

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For almost 65 years, the Carl Gellert and Celia Berta Gellert Foundation has supported Catholic schools and communities across the Bay Area. The foundation decided recently to cease its operations and selected Saint Mary's to receive a significant share of the assets from the foundation’s dissolution.

“The Gellert Foundation has steadfastly supported the College’s student-centered educational mission for several decades,” said Kevin Flynn ’86, a Director of the Gellert Foundation and Trustee for Saint Mary’s College. “This generous gift is a culmination of our impactful partnership over four decades. The foundation has been a strong advocate for access to Catholic education and it’s been an honor to work together to advance these common goals.”

Since 1974, the Gellert Foundation has generously supported Saint Mary’s College through grants for scholarships, capital projects, and operations. The Foundation has also established two named scholarships. The Carl and Celia Gellert Annual Financial Aid Scholarship helps Saint Mary’s recruit and retain middle-class students who have financial need but are not eligible for federal Pell grants or need-based scholarships. The Carl Gellert and Celia Berta Gellert Memorial Endowment Scholarship Fund supplements tuition for students in need of financial aid who have demonstrated accomplishments and desire to excel in their academics.

According to Jack Fitzpatrick, Executive Director of the Gellert Foundation, “One of the reasons that the Foundation supports Saint Mary’s College is that it maintains high academic standards while also preparing its graduates to serve others after graduation.”

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Consistent with its Lasallian mission to educate as many students as possible, Saint Mary’s is a leader in recruiting first-generation and low-income students and supporting them with financial aid. Seventy-one percent of Saint Mary’s students receive financial aid, and 51 percent receive need-based financial aid.

“Our long and productive partnership with the Gellert Foundation has helped to keep Saint Mary’s competitive, diverse, and vibrant,” said Bill Olds, Executive Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations. “We are deeply grateful for the Foundation’s generous support for the high-quality education that Saint Mary’s provides to our students, and for this final gift.”

See more stories about the influence of our generous community of donors at The Impact of Your Gift webpage.