Gene and Janet D’Agostino: “Christendom…serves a crying need in our nation and our culture…it’s a real candle in the darkness.”

Gift Plan: Bequest

In today’s culture, faithful Catholics are thirsty for vibrant communities that guide members toward the same fundamental goal: salvation. Such communities may be found in a variety of places, but benefactors Gene and Janet D’Agostino found their community in a unique location—Christendom College—a place Gene describes as a “candle in the darkness.”

Before discovering Christendom, Gene found himself disturbed by the true “crisis of culture” sweeping across America—finding it first in his home state of Connecticut. Seeing a supreme lack of transcendence and a celebration of ‘the self’ in its place, Gene and Janet, realized the need for a community with a faith-based understanding of culture and the world.

In their hunt for such a community, Gene encountered two men: former Christendom board members Douglas Dewey and Eugene Zurlo, who each inspired the D’Agostinos by their Catholic faith and charity. Together, they introduced Gene and Janet to Christendom’s unique, Catholic liberal arts education and its mission “to restore all things in Christ”—a mission the D’Agostinos eagerly wanted to further.

“In order to impact culture, you have to have an understanding about truth, about natural law, and about tradition. When you have these understandings, you can truly live the faith and affect the culture. Christendom is the perfect outlet for giving students those understandings—it serves a crying need in our nation and our culture,” says Gene. “We need to teach future generations that there are absolute truths, and that is very much what Christendom does. It’s a real candle in the darkness.”

When Dewey and Zurlo invited Gene to join the College’s Board, he did not hesitate. Since joining the College and its vibrant community, Gene uses his business background to help guide the College in its goal of changing the culture through education and assist it with the resources necessary to continue in its noble mission.

Desiring to further impact the culture, Gene and Janet included Christendom in their last will. By placing the College among their select beneficiaries, the D’Agostinos plan to share their treasures with Christendom long after they have gone to their eternal reward—thus helping the College continue to teach students the truths of natural law and the canon of western civilization for years to come.