Boarding school grad committed to his alma mater

Paul Waldie

The Gift: $1.4-million and climbing

The Cause: Victoria’s St. Michaels University School

The Reason: To fund student scholarships

Hugh McGillivray was on a trip to Britain four years ago when he booked into a beautiful Four Seasons hotel outside London.

“It used to be a girls boarding school,” recalled Mr. McGillivray, an investment adviser in Calgary. “The reason it was a Four Seasons Hotel was that it was a beautiful building but the boarding school didn’t have any funding.”

The experience prompted Mr. McGillivray to think about the future of his alma mater – St. Michaels University School, a private boarding school in Victoria that has about 900 students.

Mr. McGillivray grew up in Victoria and attended the school in the 1960s, graduating in 1964. He has many fond memories including a rugby tour of Britain and building the school chapel with other students. He went on to the University of Victoria, the University of British Columbia and a long career with the Mannix Group and CIBC Wood Gundy in Calgary. But he never forgot his days at St. Michaels. “I had an amazing experience there,” he said.

A sale like the one in Britain “could happen to any school including [St. Michaels] if you don’t have endowments,” he said. “You’ve got beautiful buildings and they are going to get sold for real estate.”

When Mr. McGillivray returned home from London he decided to do something for St. Michaels. He started funding three scholarships and is in the process of creating another one. He has donated $1.4-million in total so far and hopes to fund as many as 100 scholarships within 10 years. He’s also trying to raise money to build a $50-million endowment at the school.

“The kids are worth it,” he said. He hopes to encourage more donors to set up other scholarships so they can bridge “the big disconnect between the people who have money and the smart kids whose parents have none.”

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