A gift of nearly $3 million from San Francisco Bay Area couple Karen and Tom Mulvaney will expand the reach and impact of the University of San Diego’s Center for Community Service Learning in San Diego and around the world.
In honor of the gift, announced Tuesday, the center will be renamed as the Karen and Tom Mulvaney Center for Community, Awareness and Social Action, or CASA.
“This is truly a transformative gift and one that will allow generations of University of San Diego students to not only give back to their local and global communities but to grow personally, professionally and spiritually,” said University of San Diego President Mary E. Lyons. “We are very grateful for the Mulvaneys’ generosity.”
The Mulvaneys’ gift also resulted in another $450,000 for the center from hundreds of other donors through a matching challenge completed in 2012.
Tom Mulvaney graduated from the University of San Diego School of Law in 1977. The couple’s son, Mason, earned his bachelor’s degree in 2009 from the University. Tom’s father, Jim, a noted San Diego civic leader, also taught at the University of San Diego School of Law.
The couple has a long history of community involvement and engagement and are committed to CASA’s mission to connect students, staff, faculty and alumni with their local and global communities. Learning to understand, collaborate and work together “just makes the world a better place,” said Tom Mulvaney, a successful businessman. “The experience of being together with other people is the very best way to affect change inwardly and outwardly,” said Karen Mulvaney. “I don’t think anything can match that.”
Through their gift, CASA will be able to expand its efforts for faculty, staff, students and alumni to serve with compassion, work for peace and become leaders dedicated to ethical and compassionate service. The Center has more than 50 partnerships allowing students to participate in a range of programs such as mentoring and tutoring at-risk youth, planting community gardens and consulting on microfinance projects. Students, faculty, staff and alumni also participate in immersion projects to better understand communities around the globe including New Orleans, Tijuana and Jamaica.
