Several years ago, and after conversations with Xavier University President Michael Graham, SJ , Roger contributed funds for the initiation of a university-level course in philanthropy. But rather than the usual lecture model, Roger suggested that students actually engage in hands-on philanthropy and that they be the decision-makers regarding what local charities would receive support from a limited source of funds. Roger then contributed those funds.
     Xavier students are thus setting priorities for funding, issuing invitations for applications, reviewing those applications, and then making decisions on what organizations best meet the funding criteria. They are learning the structure of objective grant-making, are coming into contact with the many charitable organizations of the Cincinnati community, and perhaps most importantly, are beginning their own personal journeys into charitable causes.

     Roger has been coaching girls' softball since the early 1960s. Back then, the girls couldn't wear shorts. They couldn't play if they were married. They couldn't take their athletic abilities to the college level.
     Times have changed, and Roger has been a part of that change.
     In addition to creating his own world-championship team of all-stars, he has been instrumental in strengthening the Girls Softball Program at Northern Kentucky University, just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. In 1978, just as the program was beginning and before the first pitch was ever thrown, Roger gave a sizable gift to the athletic department with the instruction that the funds be directed exclusively to girls' softball scholarships.
     Today, the NKU team is a powerhouse. It holds the NCAA record for consecutive wins (55) and is a regular in the regional and national play-offs. And Roger is a part of it all. He travels with the team, serves as honorary coach, and quietly helps when called upon. He funded most of the cost for the construction of a new softball stadium -- to the extent that the University named the field after Roger's father -- and has continued to help with scholarships.