Welcome to Fundraising Friday: AB Today's weekly digest of recent developments in development.
The Georgetown University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics has received a $4 million gift from Ambassador David Welch (Class of 1975) and Gretchen Welch, as the family has established an endowed fund, the school announced earlier this month. Half of the Welches' gift is an endowment supporting special initiatives led by athletic director Lee Reed. The second half of the gift will support the operational needs of men's basketball head coach Ed Cooley. In gratitude, the men's basketball practice gym in the John R. Thompson Jr. Intercollegiate Athletic Center will be renamed in Welchs' honor.
A graduate of University High School in Morgantown, W.V., has pledged to donate up to $1 million toward the funding of a new baseball and softball complex. Nancy Pride Raley, the sister of UHS Athletic Hall of Famer Ronald “Duke” Pride, has agreed to donate $750,000 toward the construction of the approximately $4 million project. As reported by WAJR, the donation also includes a separate $250,000 donation that will be used at a later date to help support building state-of-the-art baseball and softball fields with modern amenities not seen in other high schools in Monongalia County.
The West Michigan Sports Commission’s Meijer Sports Complex improvement/expansion campaign received a $1.5 million donation from Alro Steel Foundation and $750,000 in federal grant funds through U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten, raising the fundraising total to $8.7 million — 77 percent of its $11.4 million goal. According to rapidgrowthmedia.com, Alro Steel’s donation gives it the naming rights to the complex’s new championship softball field, which will be named Alro Steel Championship Field.
University of California, Santa Barbara Foundation trustee John Arnhold (Class of 1975) and his wife Jody, along with their Arnhold Foundation, have donated $5 million to Gauchos athletics. According to a university announcement Monday, UCSB Athletics has been a longtime focal point for the Arnholds’ prolific giving to the campus, which includes the $5.25 million Arnhold Tennis Center and, for many years, scholarship support for student-athletes. Their new investment establishes and endows the Arnhold Directorship of Athletics — Kelly Barsky, UCSB's first female AD, is the first to fill the role — signifying a belief in her vision and in the evolution of UCSB Athletics at large.
Total amount of these gifts:
$11,500,000
