U Magazine, Fall 1987

Saying thanks in a special way

Two alumni say thanks to their alma mater by establishing a scholarship for children of other alumni. T hanks to the generosity of two of the Un iversity's alumn i, a USD education now is a reality for children of alumni who otherwise couldn't afford to attend the institution. The two alums, Vince and Meg (Mary Ellen Goode '7 0) Reardon '70, recently established the Reardon-Goode Endowed Scholar– ship with a $100,000 donation to USD. It is the largest gift ever given to the University by alumn i and the first USD scholarship established for ch ildren of alumni. The scholarship will be awarded annually to sons or daughters of alumni attending USD, based on need and scholastic achievement. This year, seven students will receive $1,000 scholarships. The Reardons established the scholarship in honor of their parents, Gerald V. and Dorothea Reardon and John T. Goode and Gen Goode. "Our parents always impressed upon us the importance of education and the value of giving back to the community," Meg Reardon says . "The Lord has blessed us and we feel privileged to be able to do this." She and her husband remember the campus as a friendly place where all of the students knew each other. In their student days, there were separate colleges for men and women. However, by 1970, men and women took classes together . By Shirley Hulett

The R eardon-Goode Scholarship will be awarded on the basis of need and scholastic achievement. Vince and Meg (Mary Ellen Goode '70) (right) look ovei-a list ofpotential scholarship 1-ecipients. Meg Reardon majored in social science whi le Vince was a political science major. He also was an active member in Phi Kappa Theta fraternity. Following graduation, Vince joined VISTA, a government service program where he worked for better housing for St. Louis' under– privileged . "If there was one thing that came out of my VISTA experience, it was an app reciation for education," he recalls. "Education is the real solution to poverty ." While Reardon worked for VISTA, hi s fiancee worked for Federal Life Insurance in Chicago. They were married in the Immaculata Church on campus in 197 1. Following his se rvice to VISTA, Reardon had planned to become an urban planner. "Everyone in the world had the same idea," he says. "So I went into insurance because

that was the only industry that was hiring." In 1984, he formed his own firm , G. V. Reardon and Assoc iates, Inc. The special risks insurance firm based in Los Angeles, once a partnership with RLI Corporation, is now wholly owned by RLI. It was Reardon's firm which insured Southern California's tomato crop against potenti al destructi on by El Nino storms. And his firm also insured the Los Angeles Philhar– monic's outdoor concert starring opera great Pavarotti for $1 million against the possibility of rain. "It was clea r as a bell!" he says. Not all ventures were so success– ful. "We once insured an oi l field facility in an Eskimo village in Alaska for $2.5 million. While the villagers were out whaling, the facility caught fire and burned to the ground." With high ri sks come high rewards. Now the couple is in a