March at McQuaid Jesuit means BASH is nearly here. BASH is McQuaid’s biggest fundraiser of the year and helps fund scholarships and financial aid for students who may not be able to afford McQuaid’s tuition. This year’s BASH will be on Saturday, March 23, in the DiMarco Field House, and the theme is Uknighted in Brotherhood.

BASH stands for “Building a Scholastic Heritage.” Along with Financial Aid, the money made at this event goes to the Annual Fund and the operating costs at McQuaid.

BASH starts with a silent auction from 5-7 p.m., with over 300 items for people to bid on. After the silent auction, guests move to the DiMarco Field House for a paddle-call donation to the school, followed by dinner, and then a live auction with the most premier items.

Auction items include VIP tickets to the Zac Brown Band, a trip to Las Vegas for the iHeartRadio Music Festival, a private jet trip to Jupiter, Florida, to golf at the Medalist, and tickets to see Hamilton in Rochester. Guests can also buy tickets for a chance to win an all-inclusive trip to Italy, an eight-day stay valued at over $13,000.

All items up for bid are donated to McQuaid from local stores, businesses, local entities, and current McQuaid families. Most of the money donations come from this year’s 81 sponsors, a McQuaid record. McQuaid has raised $263,000 from sponsors this year.

BASH is a huge part of McQuaid and its history. This is the 46th annual BASH, but how did it come to McQuaid in the first place?

Jesuit schools back in the late 1900s saw how schools like Bellarmine College Prep in Tacoma, Washington, and Loyola Academy of Wilmette benefited from directing dinner-auctions, and decided to conduct some themselves. The General Chairman of the first annual McQuaid BASH was Mr. Bill Thaney, P ‘72, ‘74, ‘76.

Mrs. Heather Whiting, P ’25, Director of Special Events and Parent Relations, explains what BASH is and why people should attend it.

“BASH is the family party to celebrate the mission and brotherhood that McQuaid embodies!  I invite everyone to be a part of it; attend the event, volunteer with the students, or help to clean up! Experience how we, as a McQuaid Community, set fire upon the earth.”

BASH takes an enormous amount of planning, from finding gift donors all the way to waiters. The first BASH consisted of 220 couples, while this year’s BASH has already sold close to 680 tickets. There are many people to manage, and a lot of things to accomplish to make BASH a success.