Celebrating our LEGACY OF GIVING!
Since our founding in 1925 as Nashville Catholic High School for Boys, Father Ryan High School has upheld its Tradition of Faith, Knowledge, Service. Over the past century, Father Ryan has been centered in the Catholic faith and evolved to meet the needs of our community while serving Nashville and the world.
We celebrate 100 years of Father Ryan, beginning in September 2024 and ending in June 2026, after the commencement exercises of our 100th graduating class. We are proud to share a century of accomplishments within these pages — milestones made possible by the generosity of generations of alumni, parents, and friends.
Father Ryan Firsts
As we reflect on the milestones we have achieved together this year, we are inspired by the impact of your generosity.
Your contributions, whether large or small, are not just a financial investment but a testament to your belief in our mission to be an experience of the living Gospel while challenging students to reach their spiritual, academic, and personal potential. Your support ensures Father Ryan High School continues to thrive for all who seek the unique and transformative experience we offer.
As we celebrate our 100th year of school, we are reminded of the rich legacy we carry forward. With your continued support, we are well-positioned to enter the next century even stronger.
This report illustrates the impact of your gift and the incredible potential that lies ahead, thanks to your generosity. Your contributions are the cornerstone of our ambitious vision, which includes:
Expanding Access: We aim to significantly increase tuition assistance and scholarship opportunities, ensuring more students and families benefit from the Father Ryan experience. With your help, we strive to meet 90% of demonstrated need over the next few years, making our institution more accessible.
Enhancing Resources and Facilities: As part of our strategic plan, we are committed to upgrading and expanding our facilities, creating innovative learning environments that will support academic excellence and personal growth. Your continued investment will allow us to develop cutting-edge programs that prepare students for the future.
Investing in Our Educators and Staff: A strong community starts with strong faculty and staff. With your continued support, we are dedicated to providing professional development opportunities and resources to attract and retain top talent, ensuring that our faculty and staff are equipped to guide the next generation.
Thank you for your unwavering commitment. You are the foundation upon which we continue to grow and succeed, and we are grateful for your partnership in shaping the next chapter of our journey. Together, we are Father Ryan.
$2.074M
TOTAL GIFTS AND PLEDGES (UNRESTRICTED AND RESTRICTED) IN 2023-2024
The impact of our community’s enduring support has been felt across each decade and is especially true for our most recent fiscal year, July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024. All financials in this report reflect the fiscal year 2023-2024.
If you have any questions about this report or if you would like to discuss further opportunities for involvement, please do not hesitate to reach out.
With deep gratitude,
Paul Davis ’81 President
John Bumpus ’78 President and Chair, Board of Trustees
First school in Tennessee to integrate after Brown v. Board of Education ended school segregation in 1954.
First school in the nation to receive dual accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) and the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS) in 2005.
First athletic event in the South between an integrated team (Father Ryan) and an all-Black team (Pearl High) in the historic “Game That Changed the South,” a pivotal moment in civil rights history in 1965.
#1 largest student-led Relay For Life in the world raising over $2M since 2010, and awarded the first-ever Pat Flynn Spirit of Relay Award from the American Cancer Society in 2019.
The iconic oak doors that served as the main entrance to Father Ryan High School on Elliston Place now welcome students to the Neuhoff Library on the Norwood campus. When they step through them for the first time as students, they join the Father Ryan experience. At graduation, when they step through them for the final time as students, they join generations of alumni who are experiences of the living Gospel in their community.
A Century of INVESTING IN FATHER RYAN
The endowment is a vital source of revenue for Father Ryan. A strong endowment and the annual income it generates allow us to fulfill our mission and innovate to address educational opportunities. Gifts to our endowment truly touch the future, existing in perpetuity, invested for long-term growth.
Scan the QR code to learn more or visit fatherryan.org/100
In 1982, Father Ryan established its endowment with $1.2 million from the school’s first capital campaign, BuildingtheEternalSpirit:The CampaignforFatherRyan.
FIVE-YEAR FATHER RYAN ENDOWMENT GROWTH
June 30, 2024
$24,452,705
June 30, 2023
$22,029,677
June 30, 2022
$20,213,633
June 30, 2021
$23,606,823
June 30, 2020
$18,066,155
The endowment helps support salaries and benefits needed to recruit and retain the highest caliber of faculty and staff, who are the backbone of our school. One of our century-old hallmarks is the unmatched dedication of exceptional faculty and staff, the greatest investment we make in our students’ experience and future.
An example of our legacy of philanthropy, Father Ryan raised more than $598,000 during World War II to purchase “The Spirit of Father Ryan” B-17 Flying Fortress bomber, answering the nation’s call to support war equipment needs.
A Century of SUPPORTING STUDENTS
Tuition assistance and scholarship endowment embody one of Father Ryan’s most treasured tenets: a student is valued for who he or she is, and with the guidance of caring faculty, embraces all possibilities of who he or she can become. Over the years, we have raised significant scholarship endowment funds to help us reach our enduring goal to make a Catholic education, rooted in our Tradition of Faith, Knowledge, Service, accessible to all.
First Endowed Scholarship
Bishop James Daniel Niedergeses ’37 and Msgr. George W. Rohling ’31 contributed $15,000 each in July 1985 to establish the Niedergeses-Rohling Scholarship Fund for a “deserving student, hopefully doing his or her best living out the Catholic Christian principles taught at Father Ryan.” On June 30, 2024, the fund was valued at $846,407. 33 named scholarships or scholarship funds
Tuition assistance has had an outstanding impact on my education and future. It reduced my family’s stress to meet the financial obligations and allowed me to immerse myself fully in my high school experience and excel in the classroom. It also impacted my college choice. Seton Hall awarded me the Catholic High School Scholarship to continue my passion for a Catholic education.”
Lamont Howard ’24
Seton Hall University
$986,000 generated annually from the endowment for tuition assistance and scholarships
NAMED SCHOLARSHIPS
Through the generosity of donors across the Father Ryan family, our students have access to need-based, merit-based, and community scholarships. These gifts invest in both the individual student and the larger community, as Father Ryan graduates become change-makers and servant leaders across Nashville and the world. Named scholarships are established with a $50,000 minimum gift.
Kevin Paul Davis ’09 Memorial Scholarship Reaches $1M in Gifts in 2023-2024
The Kevin Paul Davis Memorial Scholarship was established in 2012 to honor the memory of Kevin Paul Davis, a 2009 graduate of Father Ryan High School. Kevin was the son of Father Ryan President Paul Davis ’81 and his wife, Teresa (Sharp) Davis ’81, as well as the brother of Philip Davis ’08. The scholarship was created following Kevin’s tragic passing in a moped accident, a loss deeply felt by the Father Ryan community. Each year, this scholarship is awarded to rising seniors who embody Kevin’s well-rounded approach to life and the joy he brought to everyone around him. As of June 30, 2024, gifts to the fund topped $1 million. Over the past 12 years, 65 students have received a Davis Scholarship. Each year, the Davis family organizes the Raise Your Glass event for the community to gather and remember those they love who have passed away.
DONOR SPOTLIGHT
CLASS OF 1967 MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND
A few years before the Class of 1967 would celebrate its 50th Reunion, classmates Paul Rohling, Jim Hofstetter, and Tommy Ducklo set an audacious goal: to raise $150,000 for Father Ryan’s first endowed scholarship named for a class.
The group had passion, purpose, and professional acumen. Paul had been the school’s Director of Development throughout the 1980s before a career in collegiate fundraising. He shared his plan for the scholarship with Jim, one of three alumni record-holders for the most consecutive years of giving to the Annual Fund (45 years and counting). Soon after, Tommy, who has given consistently to the Annual Fund almost as long as Jim, agreed to help. Several years prior to their scholarship efforts, Tommy led the effort to reignite the class’s lagging annual giving. In 2007, only 8% of the class members gave. Today, 50% of the class gives to the Annual Fund. For the scholarship, the trio targeted nearly 25 class members. The response was overwhelming, and when it was time to celebrate their 50th, the class had met its goal.
Making sure that Father Ryan has the resources to meet the financial needs of families requesting assistance remains the driving force behind the Class of 1967 Memorial Scholarship. Jim and Paul are already planning to lead a fundraising effort to bolster the scholarship in conjunction with their 60th Reunion. “We are firmly committed to raising whatever money we can to enable families who want to send their children to Father Ryan to do that,” says Jim.
A Century of INVESTING IN STUDENTS
Since 1925, Father Ryan has provided an excellent Catholic education to those who seek it, regardless of ability to pay. The return on this investment in the lives and futures of deserving students has created a powerful, enduring impact on Nashville and the world through lives of service and purpose.
One of the key initiatives of our new Foundation for the Future Strategic Plan is to make certain students have access to high-quality Catholic education for generations to come. To achieve this important issue of fairness to all as mandated by our Catholic faith and in honor of our 100th year, we recently adopted a single tuition model to create a more robust tuition assistance program.
This enables Father Ryan:
To better meet the financial needs of all families who want a Catholic education.
To align tuition closer to the actual value and cost of our customized, rigorous program.
To recruit, retain, and pay the brightest and best faculty and staff.
To ensure every Father Ryan student is known and loved through exceptional programming.
CREATING HOME Across the Century
During our first century, the Father Ryan campus has changed as we have grown, but the sense of home we provide our students and alumni remains steadfast. Today, our expansive Norwood campus provides a collegiate-level learning atmosphere for our community. Donor generosity across the decades has enabled us to add important facilities for academics, athletics, arts, and student life.
NAMED BUILDINGS ON CAMPUS
Jim Carell ’54 Alumni Athletic Complex and Jim Carell ’54 Fitness Center - named for alumnus, philanthropist, and business leader Jim Carell, whose combined $5.5 million in gifts inspired an additional $2.7 million-plus for these projects.
Catignani-Drennan Fieldhouse - named in honor of coaches Louis J. Catignani ’44 and Joseph T. Drennan ’57.
$1.8M tuition assistance awarded in 2024-2025 25% of Father Ryan families received tuition assistance in 2024-2025 with 53% of families’ needs met, up from 48% the year prior
90%
of financial need met, Father Ryan’s GOAL for tuition assistance in the upcoming years
1927
The 20 young men in the Class of 1927, Father Ryan’s first graduating class, benefited from gifts that supported their education. Today, Father Ryan has an ever-growing scholarship program with named scholarships and endowment income for tuition assistance.
Giacosa Stadium - named in memory of Father Charley Giacosa, Father Ryan teacher and leader in the Diocese of Nashville and national Cursillo program, whose bequest helped to fund the school’s first-ever, on-campus football stadium.
Neuhoff Library - named for Henry Neuhoff and funded by the generosity of his daughters to honor their father, a German immigrant and devout member of Nashville’s Catholic community who deeded his farm to the Nashville Diocese to build St. Henry Church.
1925
We began as the Nashville Catholic High School for Boys on West End. Quickly outgrowing this campus, we launched our first building campaign, raising $300,000 in 10 days in March 1928. On May 31, 1929, the renamed Father Ryan High School opened its doors at 2300 Elliston Place, the same doors that grace the Norwood campus today.
1991
Through generous gifts and the sale of the Elliston Place property, Father Ryan moved to our 43-acre Norwood campus in Oak Hill.
Eight times the size of the Elliston Place site, the Norwood campus was modeled after the University of Virginia with an open-air courtyard adding to the collegiate look and feel with the Sacred Heart Chapel (renamed the Chapel of St. James for Bishop Niedergeses) as the focal point and heart of the school.
A Century of ANNUAL FUND SUPPORT
Annual, unrestricted gifts continue to be an essential part of Father Ryan’s sustainability. From our earliest days, donors have given loyally and generously each year to support the school’s operating budget. Today, the Annual Fund provides resources for countless items that sustain the core elements of a Father Ryan education.
DAVID ’66 AND LINDA BOHAN
Consistency is a constant for the Bohans. Beginning with David’s brother, Patrick ’62, there was a Bohan brother at Father Ryan for 16 years. David served 20 years on the Father Ryan Board of Trustees, including four years as President and Chair; he returned to the Board in 2024.
Their commitment to regular giving, though, is truly exceptional. For the past 45 years, the Bohans have made an annual gift to Father Ryan, a record they share with Jim Hofstetter ’67 and Gene Pentecost ’45. “My parents encouraged us every Sunday to give,” David recalls. “We were not a family of wealth, but it was that consistency of giving that made an impact.”
$1M raised in the Annual Fund in 2023-2024, a Father Ryan record!
67% amount of expenses covered by net tuition in 2023-2024. The Annual Fund helps to bridge that gap.
100%
current faculty and staff participation in the Annual Fund—16 years in a row! 55%
of current parents participated in the 2023-2024 Annual Fund.
7.9% of alumni participated in the 2023-2024 Annual Fund.
Father Ryan changed my life and gave me a sense of purpose. The school pushed my limits so I could figure out who I am. I never thought I would play Football or be House Chaplain for Elliston. Father Ryan also drove home the importance of practicing my Catholic faith, of knowing my values and morals. I could feel the divine presence of God every day there. Before I left for college, I contributed to the Annual Fund because I want more people to have the same experience I did. I believe that Father Ryan prepares us better than any other place on Earth. That is why I give back.”
Sanjeeth George ’24
Virginia Tech, Mechanical Engineering major Naval ROTC and Corps Cadets
They have made endowment gifts, created the Evelyn and Jimmy Bohan Scholarship Fund in memory of his parents, donated a classroom in his parents’ memory, and named the Director of Athletics’ office in the Athletic Complex for his dad, a die-hard Irish football fan. In 2024, Father Ryan celebrated them as Legacy Gala Honorees.
“You have to be stewards of what is given to you,” Linda explains. “Our focus is on education, which includes Father Ryan, Catholic elementary schools, the University of Tennessee where we went, and supporting the educations of our nieces and nephews.” So far, nine family members have attended Father Ryan.
“The Father Ryan motto of a Tradition of Faith, Knowledge, Service makes for a better student, better friend, better aunt, uncle, brother, sister, mother, father, than just schools that focus solely on academic excellence,” adds David. “We have been very blessed and feel it is important to return that gift.”
FATHER RYAN Giving Day 2024
2024 Giving Day Results
On April 24-25, 2024, we held our annual Giving Day on social media to inspire Ryan Nation to support the Annual Fund. This was our best effort to date!
Save the Date: Day of Giving, April 24-25, 2025 #frhsgivingday2025
$130K raised 250 original donor goal
54 new donors
8 challenge matches met in 24 hours
419 donors
DONOR SPOTLIGHT
Leaving A LEGACY
Planned gifts — supporting Father Ryan through an estate gift — truly reach across generations. Donors and their family members can meet philanthropic and tax benefits, while funding Father Ryan’s mission in perpetuity. Bequests, large and small, are the backbone of the school’s planned gifts during the past 100 years.
Father James A. Black ’64 Planned Giving Society
Named for Father James A. Black ’64, one of the first alumni to make a bequest to Father Ryan, this giving society honors individuals and families who have made planned gifts to Father Ryan High School. Like Father Black, these meaningful gifts, at any level, have an impact that reverberates in perpetuity.
Since Ordination, I’ve had the assignment of serving at Father Ryan High School in Nashville. That assignment has truly been a gift from the Lord to me. And if the Lord, through whom all things are possible, would grant me but one wish as I stand before Him, it would be this: I would ask the Lord to assign me the privileged task of watching over, cherishing, and protecting that great institution and all its members, now and forever.”
56 realized planned gifts to Father Ryan 47 living members, plus 10 alumni spouses, of the Father James A. Black ’64 Planned Giving Society
$18.3M in planned gifts over the years
Visit fatherryanlegacy.org to make an investment in Father Ryan’s future. There are numerous planned giving options to meet your goals and leave a lasting legacy.
$10M given by Joel ’36 and Mary Sue Cheek
The largest single gift and bequest in Father Ryan’s history
After serving in the Army during World War II and receiving a law degree from Cumberland University, Joel Cheek ’36 chose to farm rather than practice law. Humble and helpful, the Cheeks cultivated a life and legacy of giving to others. With their philanthropy focused on assisting students in achieving their educational dreams, the Cheeks’ extraordinary bequest of $10 million, received in 2013-2014, created a named scholarship that has supported hundreds of Father Ryan students.
JUDY (KOMISKY) ORR ’75
First Female Board Chairman, Father Ryan Board of Trustees
Though a stalwart Annual Fund supporter since college graduation, Judy had not volunteered for any organization until her children — Daniel Green ’98, Patrick Orr ’05, and Will Orr ’10 — followed in her Father Ryan footsteps. In 2003, as a brand expert in the Vanderbilt University marketing department, she volunteered to help Father Ryan with branding, joining the Board of Trustees three years later.
When she was tapped to serve as the first female Board Chairman in 2013, advice from the late Bishop David Choby ’65 changed her leadership approach. “I was nervous, but he said it’s really about leading the conversation,” explains Judy, who chaired the Board for four years and is now a Lifetime Trustee. “It is so important to encourage others to speak and be engaged and to identify synergies.”
Father Ryan inspired her approach to servant leadership and a second career in social services after earning her L.M.S.W. The school’s focus on equity during her student days and her teachers, especially Father William J. Fleming ’49, Scripture teacher and principal, had a profound effect: “The school’s promise today, ‘You Will Be Known. You Will Be Loved.’ was absolutely in force when was at Father Ryan. I am really proud that could be part of helping Father Ryan to get even better.”
She is equally proud of the planned gift she has made to the Father William J. Fleming ’49 Scholarship Fund, naming Father Ryan as the beneficiary of one of her retirement accounts. “I credit the whole Father Ryan experience from being a student, parent, Board Member, and Chairman for leading to my incredibly gratifying CEO role at Catholic Charities, Diocese of Nashville, helping our neighbors in the community,” she says.
Father James A. Black ’64
DONOR SPOTLIGHT
Father Ryan TODAY
Father Ryan High School supports our students, faculty, and staff with an annual operating budget of $23.8 million in 2024-2025, with an additional $1.8 million in tuition assistance. We remain deeply grateful for the ongoing generosity of the Father Ryan community through their continued support of our Annual Fund, capital support for endowment and specific programs and campaigns, and planned gifts.
As we have since our very first gift in our earliest days, we pledge to continue to be exceptional stewards of these gifts. Philanthropy has changed the course of Father Ryan over the past 100 years, just as generations of students have taken the education, faith-inspired values, and deep love of community and changed the world around them.
Father Ryan embraces fiscal responsibility through our school’s administration and Board of Trustees. The school’s investment and distribution policies and annual budget are approved by the Board of Trustees. Father Ryan is audited annually by an independent accounting firm.
Visit fatherryan.org/give to make a gift.
Please contact us to find out how you can be part of our next century of giving at Father Ryan.
Brooke Reusch Director of Advancement reuschb@fatherryan.org
$21,511,058 $22,876,823 2023-2024 REVENUE 2023-2024 EXPENDITURES
Tuition and Fees
Fundraising
Auxiliary Revenue
Endowment State Grants
Dividends and Interest
Other Program Services - Academic and Auxiliary Support Services (including management and general, advancement, information technology, and facilities) Tuition Assistance
Sara (Carter) Atwood ’04 Alumni Engagement & Outreach Manager atwoods@fatherryan.org
Angie (Jacobson) Coffey ’95 Annual Fund Manager coffeya@fatherryan.org
MISSION
Father Ryan’s mission is to be an experience of the living Gospel while challenging students to reach their spiritual, academic, and personal potential.
MOTTO
A Tradition of Faith, Knowledge, Service
VISION
Father Ryan seeks to be a superior Catholic high school, providing excellence in religious and moral formation, academics, athletics, and the arts while remaining accessible to those seeking an education in the Catholic Tradition.
