des Places Circle
Graduating from the Sorbonne at age 21, Claude Poullart des Places seemed destined for a life of luxury. The son of French nobility, Claude expected to succeed his father as a lawyer and lawmaker—until he met a group of homeless boys on the streets of Paris.
Moved by their plight, he abandoned the aristocratic life and entered the seminary. In 1703, at the age of 24, Claude assembled a small band of impoverished seminarians and started his own Congregation— the Spiritans. He died six years later, but his legacy lives on in the Spiritans and their only institution of higher learning—Duquesne University.
Like Claude, you don’t have to wait until you’re older or more established to make a difference. The des Places Circle offer graduates of the last decade a way to share in the all the benefits of Duquesne Society membership through gifts that are more affordable.
Graduates in the Class of 2011 may join the des Places Circle with a gift of as little as $100 made between July 1, 2011 and June 30, 2012. Initial membership levels for other graduates of the past decade during the current membership year are as follows:
2010 = $200
2009 = $300
2008 = $400
2007 = $500
2006 = $600
2005 = $700
2004 = $800
2003 = $900
Qualifying gifts for maintaining membership will then increase in $100 increments (i.e., a 2011 graduate’s minimum des Places Circle gift between July 1, 2012 and June 30, 2013 would be $200) until reaching $1,000 for full Duquesne Society recognition.
Make your gift online today, or for more information, e-mail or call 412.396.6040.