McIntyre, starting his fifth year at the school and third year as president, was a veteran of teaching, coaching and serving as principal at Catholic high schools in Dallas and Columbia, S.C., before coming to Father Ryan.
He has helped raise $5 million for the new football and athletics complex that opened at Father Ryan this fall, and he's boosted annual fund giving from just below $200,000 to more than $400,000 last year. The challenge now is how to raise more money in a recession and maintain solid returns on the school's multimillion-dollar endowment despite volatility on Wall Street.
McIntyre discussed the business side of private education with Tennessean Business Editor Randy McClain as a new school year begins.
How long has Father Ryan operated with a principal/president model?
This is the beginning of the third year of that structure. My job is looking at financial stability, planning and giving. Our enrollment has stabilized. Last year, at the end of school we had 868 students and we opened this year with 893. We draw students from at least seven counties. There's a lot of choice in the non-public school arena.
How expensive was the new sports complex, and how much money is yet to be raised to finish paying for it?
Our campus was incomplete without a stadium. Spiritually, intellectually and physically we want to develop young people, and a stadium can serve as a gathering place for our community. We've been the nomads for 84 years, playing at Vanderbilt for a few years and at other stadiums every week more recently.
We were blessed that we had raised a significant proportion of the money to pay for this facility prior to the stock market's and the economy's downturn. Last Oct. 3 we announced that we had already raised $4.7 million for the project, and I believe that was the day of the lowest point on Wall Street.
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