For the past 38 years, Benedictine College’s primary fundraiser has been the annual Scholarship Ball, this year held on Feb. 27 at the Westin Crown Center Hotel.
The event helps raise funds for the over 99 percent of Benedictine students who are currently receiving some sort of financial assistance to attend.
According to Steve Johnson, director of marketing and communications, over 600 alumni, students and friends were in attendance this year, contributing nearly half a million dollars to the school’s scholarship fund, with money continuing to come in.
Johnson noted that John Holt, Fox 4 anchor and this year’s master of ceremonies, said that the 39th Scholarship Ball was the most exciting he’s ever witnessed, with the Benedictine Jazz Band, Chamber singers and Dance Team all performing and entertaining guests.
The honorees for this year’s Scholarship Ball were Daryll Jones and Jim and Katie O’Brien, all of whom received the Cross of the Order of St. Benedict.
A 1968 graduate of St. Benedict’s College, Jones earned his degree in sociology. During his four years on campus he was both a student leader and an All-American basketball player. He led the Ravens to three consecutive tournament appearances and the 1967 NAIA national basketball championship. He was cocaptain of the championship team in the 1967 Pan American Games and played in the 1968 Olympic Trials. The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics recognized him as a four-time All-American, and he has since been inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame.
Jones now runs his own State Farm Insurance agency in Texas and is the father of three grown children.
In his acceptance speech Jones said, “I think we all know Benedictine is a special place…Everything I have accomplished, all of my success, I owe to the experiences and the education I got at Benedictine.”
Jim and Katie O’Brien have been associated with Benedictine College for many years, going back to Jim’s football days as a student-athlete at St. Benedict’s College. He graduated in 1960 with a degree in Business Administration and, after a brief coaching career, began his work in the pharmaceutical industry. At this time he also met his wife, Katie, a Kansas City native and graduate 
of the University of Kansas with a degree in elementary education, and the two were married in 1962.
O’Brien eventually started his own company, O’Brien Marketing & Communications, with his son, David.
Throughout his professional life he has served on the boards of four publicly traded companies and recently joined the board of the non-profit Urban Rangers Corps, an organization founded by his brother-in-law, Father John Wandless.
The O’Briens have three grown children and four grandchildren.
As of press time, the Scholarship Ball had brought in $478,000 for the school, but according to Johnson, as there is still money coming in, that number is expected to rise.
