When it came time for John Devney to make his college choice, there were a couple of criteria that needed to be met.
"My parents - bless them - made it clear to us they would pay for our college education as long as the place we picked checked a couple of boxes," the 1993 Saint John's University graduate recalled.
"No. 1, it had to be a Catholic school. My Dad was a Notre Dame graduate and that was important to him. And No. 2, it had to offer a good, solid liberal arts degree. So I really ended up looking at only one place. That was Saint John's."
Looking back, Devney said he could not have made a better decision.
"The entire Saint John's experience - the place, the people I met there and the faculty - had such a huge impact on my life," said Devney, who is now the Chief Policy Officer at Delta Waterfowl, a Bismarck, North Dakota based conservation group for which he has worked since 1998. "It was a place for me to learn and grow, not just in an academic manner, but also as a person. So much of who I am today is a result of the time I spent there."
Which is why Devney believes so strongly in giving back to his alma mater.
He has made the establishment of an endowed scholarship one of his highest philanthropic priorities - beginning to provide funding now, but also including SJU in his estate plan to assure funding continues beyond his lifetime.
"After my mother and father's passing, I really started to think," said Devney, a Mahtomedi High School graduate who majored in government and minored in psychology while also running track and field at SJU.
"Those are the moments in life that make you realize you're not going to be here forever either. And, if hopefully you've been a good steward with what you've been able to receive and earn, you ask yourself what the sort of things are you truly care about and cherish in the world.
"Where are the places you want to leave your mark. My parents helped make the opportunities I received at Saint John's a possibility for me. If I can help make those opportunities available to another young man who might not be able to afford them otherwise, that's something I feel is important for me to do."
In the end, he said, it's simply about paying it forward, which is what makes including SJU in his estate plan so important.
"If people think long and hard about the great experiences in their lives, they'll realize that somebody, somewhere helped provide that opportunity for them," said Devney, who resides in Bismarck with his wife Carmen and their three children: Katherine (a freshman in high school), John (seventh grade) and James (fourth grade).
"Maybe it was their parents or grandparents. Maybe it was a scholarship. But for all of us who have come through Saint John's, there's been someone who has helped facilitate that experience. So for those of us who are lucky enough to be in a position to carry that forward, I think we have a responsibility to do it."
