STEUBENVILLE, OHIO—Franciscan University of Steubenville recently received a multimillion-dollar gift from Ward and Kathy Fitzgerald aimed at preparing, connecting, and engaging students in the political and cultural work of Washington, D.C.

The Ward and Kathy Fitzgerald Franciscan University Homeland Mission (FUHM) will play an integral and transformative role in equipping young men and women to serve as joyful disciples in the public square, advancing the great global missionary cause of positively impacting the principles and policies guiding the United States government.

Through this engagement, Franciscan students will be provided with the access, support, and encouragement necessary to participate fully at the highest levels of the legislative process—and to do so with missionary zeal and faith-formed minds and hearts. The Fitzgeralds’ transformative donation of $10 million has funded the acquisition of residential and learning facilities, creating a dedicated hub for the University’s mission in the nation’s capital, and it will also establish an endowment to help fund FUHM’s programming and operations. This will include launching ongoing internships and job placement activities, building professional networking and personal development opportunities, and offering continuing education and Catholic faith formation programs in a supportive and nurturing environment.

By bringing the University’s Gospel-infused core values of encounter, conversion, and community to bear on the political and social atmosphere of Washington, D.C., Franciscan students, alumni, faculty, and staff will bring the light of Catholic social teaching to the most critical issues of the day. This engagement will not only bring the Church’s witness to the legislative and political process, but it will also serve to draw more people to Christ and his Church. Programs and events at the FUHM will challenge students to work and witness for ongoing, systematic change in federal government, placing the sacred human dignity of all people at the center of the work.

“Ward and Kathy Fitzgerald share Franciscan University’s zeal for the Gospel, and they have a special concern for the spiritually poor in the corridors of power,” said Father Dave Pivonka, TOR ’89, president of Franciscan University. “Their generous gift will enable Franciscan to form students and others called to bring the heart of Jesus to the public processes in the important arena of our nation’s capital.

“The Franciscan charism of ongoing conversion, which invites everyone to continually and humbly draw closer to Christ, will be key to carrying out this mission. The Franciscan University Homeland Mission will invite others to deeper conversion through three pillars grounded in the University’s mission: Evangelization and Joyful Presence, Intellectual and Personal Formation, and Support for Human Dignity,” explained Father Pivonka.

Kathy Fitzgerald commented on the couple’s behalf, “We have been provided great Providence to be able to be vessels of the Holy Spirit by participating with such a worthy University and its students, faculty, and administration. We are too well mindful that nothing we have created or hold is our own but graces and gifts from Our Lord to do his work.”

Ward Fitzgerald, through the support of his wife, Kathy, founded Exeter Property Group, and currently, he is CEO of EQT Exeter, an international real estate private equity fund investment group and real estate development and operating company. He and Kathy focus their giving on community philanthropy including the Church, Catholic education, homelessness, poverty, addiction, children abused and trafficked in Mexico, and medical research.

The Fitzgeralds are members of the Trustees to the Papal Foundation, and Ward served as a vice chair for the World Meeting of Families in 2015, for which the couple was named Knight and Dame Grand Cross in the Order of St. Gregory the Great. In 2025, the couple will receive the St. Charles Borromeo Award, given by the Board of Trustees of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, in honor of their servant leadership in the Philadelphia community, the Catholic community, and beyond.

The Fitzgeralds have three adult children, all examples of responsibility to the Church, the marginalized, and areas of injustice through their own endeavors.

Through the Fitzgeralds’ gift, Franciscan University has purchased a $3 million property in the heart of D.C. on Massachusetts Avenue to house the Ward and Kathy Fitzgerald Franciscan University Homeland Mission.

Their donation—totaling $10 million—helps fund the Outreach and Evangelization case component of the University’s ongoing $110 million Rebuild My Church Capital Campaign.

Bob Hickey, vice president of Advancement at Franciscan University, said, “We are so grateful to Ward and Kathy Fitzgerald for their wonderful support for Franciscan’s passionately Catholic educational mission and their decision to help bring the Gospel message to those in the D.C. area, especially those seeking spiritual support to serve our country in integrity and truth. May God bless them for their generosity and bless our work of evangelization in the heart of our beloved nation.”

The FUHM is part of the new Franciscan University Encounter initiative, which works to bring together and leverage the University’s academic, administrative, and evangelizing resources to extend its mission and impact far beyond its Steubenville, Ohio, campus. Stephen Catanzarite, executive director of Encounter, will lead programming and operations for the FUHM in partnership with the Political Science Department, the Institute for Catholic Humanitarian Service, and many other Franciscan University departments and partners in the world. Catanzarite said student rotations in D.C. will begin on a limited basis this fall and expand in the spring 2025 semester.

For more details on the Rebuild My Church Campaign: giving.franciscan.edu.