Mueller's

Dear Friends,

Being part of the Domino's family and building RPM Pizza alongside my own family has been one of the greatest blessings of my life. It has shaped who I am, influenced how I lead, and introduced me to friendships that have endured for decades.

Many of us learned early on about the five priorities that Tom Monaghan championed: Spiritual, Social, Mental, Physical, and Financial. The order mattered then, and it still matters today. Long before most people talked about work-life balance or personal growth, Tom challenged us to build our lives around the things that matter most.

Ave Maria University is the realization of that vision. It is a place where young men and women can pursue all five priorities together, in the right order, and in an environment that encourages them to grow not only academically, but spiritually and personally as well. While all five priorities are important, many people spend their lives pursuing the fifth before establishing a strong foundation in the first four. Tom and Richard both believed that when your spiritual, social, mental, and physical priorities are in balance, financial success often follows. Ave Maria helps students build that foundation first, giving them the opportunity to achieve success without sacrificing what matters most.

What impresses me most about Ave Maria is not the beautiful campus or the academic programs, though both are exceptional. It is the sense of community. The friendships formed there remind me of the relationships many of us built throughout our years in the Domino's system. They are rooted in shared values, genuine care for one another, and a commitment to showing up when people need you. Those are the kinds of relationships that last a lifetime.

That is why a group of longtime friends and fellow operators, Mike Orcutt, Mike Cunningham, Mike Rompel, Jerry Longen, and I, have joined Tom in creating a special gathering place on campus called Mueller's, named in honor of my brother, Richard.

Richard believed deeply that success was never about accumulating wealth. He often said that money is simply a tool, and in the right hands, it can build something that lasts far beyond us. Mueller's will provide students with a place to gather, connect, build friendships, and create the kind of community that shapes the rest of their lives.

Most of us have spent our careers focused on the fifth priority. Through hard work, opportunity, and God's blessings, we've been fortunate to achieve success. Today, I am asking you to consider using a portion of what the fifth priority has made possible to strengthen the first four for future generations.

Throughout our careers, we built businesses on the belief that you could do things the right way and still succeed. Ave Maria University represents that same belief on a much larger scale. It is an investment in young people, strong values, and a future worth building.

I hope you will take a few minutes to learn more about this project and prayerfully consider supporting it. Together, we have the opportunity to create a lasting impact for generations of students who will walk this campus long after we are gone.