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FEATURE: ANSWERING THE CALL
A Time to Return
PAUL & CATHLEEN ANDERSON
It isn’t every day that Director
of Leadership Giving, Katie
Magee Thiemann ’81, receives
a phone call from someone
asking to give to Cor Jesu.
Usually, she makes the initial
request. And it isn’t every day,
especially, that the person’s
only ties to Cor Jesu are
two nieces that attended.
In the fall of 2017, Paul and Cathleen
Anderson moved back to Cathleen’s
home, St. Louis, after many years in
Texas. Their nieces, Alexa and Maggie
Holtmann, had both graduated from
Cor Jesu—Alexa in 2012 and Maggie,
just recently, in 2017. The Andersons,
who are very close with Alexa and
Maggie, were impressed with the
experiences their nieces had at Cor Jesu.
“Alexa and Maggie considered Cor
Jesu a home away from home,”
Cathleen says. “They loved it!”
Recently retired, the Andersons wanted
to get involved with local schools.
Thanks to Alexa and Maggie, CJ got their
attention. After their phone call with
Katie, they came for a tour of Cor Jesu
and a conversation with CJ President, Sr.
Barbara Thomas, ASCJ. Immediately, they
knew they wanted to invest in this place;
they wanted to invest in these students.
“We have been very blessed in our
lives and are at the point where it is
time to give back,” Cathleen says. “We
looked at a number of charities and
Cor Jesu had everything we wanted.
We strongly believe that education is
the key to future success. And because
CJ offers an excellent education that
is strongly rooted in the Catholic faith,
in addition to a significant number of
12
need-based scholarships, we couldn’t
think of a better place to invest our
money. For us, Cor Jesu was a homerun.”
The Andersons recall being particularly
impressed by the way Cor Jesu
approached the student experience
before, during and after four years of
high school. They saw the school look
for the right students first, and consider
finances second. If it was the right place
for the student, Cor Jesu would find a
way to make it possible for her to enroll.
Once a student was in a desk, she would
find a challenging curriculum, a faith-
filled environment, career exploration
opportunities, independent study
classes and a caring community. Then
they saw how that support continued
after graduation, through the Corporate
Partners Initiative’s (CPI) Alumnae
Internship Networking Connections
(INC) event, where college-aged alumnae
could connect with corporations for
potential jobs and internships.
The Andersons saw firsthand how
prepared Alexa and Maggie were for
challenging curricula in college, and
how additional opportunities at CJ set
them up for success. Alexa now works
in the Information Systems division
at Edward Jones. Maggie is currently
studying chemical engineering at the
University of Tulsa and interned last
summer at Anheuser-Busch InBev. In high
school, Maggie participated in the CPI
Summer Engineering Experience (SEE)
Week, which helped her find her path.
“Cor Jesu gets involved in every step
of the girls’ lives,” Cathleen says. “Not
only is Cor Jesu preparing their girls
for a challenging college education,
but CJ is also taking the extra steps
needed to prepare them for a successful
career after they graduate from