Florida Atlantic University Athletics
From The Desk Of Brian White
9/3/2021 4:30:00 PM | General
Dear Owl Fans:
As I sit down to write the first of these letters for the 2021-22 academic year, the calendar has just turned to September. Our fall sports seasons have begun, we are starting our football season tomorrow at Florida and our home football opener is right around the corner on Sept. 11.
The beginning of a school year is always exciting. It's especially exciting for us at FAU Athletics, as a new year brings even more opportunities for Winning In Paradise.
One of the most important factors in our ability to continue Winning In Paradise is the support of our incredibly generous donors. And we're definitely winning when it comes to the support we've received from some amazing gifts in the last week.
As you may have seen, we had the pleasure of announcing a $2.5 million gift to the football program from Michelle and Michael Hagerty last week. Thanks to the Hagertys' gift, the head football coach at FAU will be known as the Hagerty Family Head Football Coach in perpetuity. Their donation will also support the Chasing Greatness program, which is already paying dividends for our football program, as we'll soon be hiring a nutritionist and a player development staff member, while also greatly enhancing our overall student-athlete experience.
The Hagertys' gift is the fifth donation of $2.5 million or more we've received since March of 2018. Five of the top 10 gifts ever for FAU Athletics have come in that span.
Longtime fan and supporter Erich Sommerkamp made a $750,000 gift commitment to the Paradise Club earlier this week. With this commitment, Erich's lifetime giving to FAU Athletics is now over $1 million. He is the 14th individual or family donor to reach the $1 million mark. We could not be more grateful to Erich for his steadfast support of FAU Athletics over the past 20-plus years.
We've built some great momentum in fundraising. Overall giving increased to 147 percent of the previous year's total in the fiscal year 2020-21. And we expect to be able to announce even more significant gifts that will continue to enhance the experience for our student-athletes in the near future.
Facilities Update
Improving on and building new facilities is just one of the ways philanthropic support helps FAU Athletics continue to build on our upward trajectory. In July, we announced the largest gift ever to the Owls' men's and women's tennis programs.Â
Kim Strauss made a generous gift to the tennis programs, allowing for the creation of the Kim V. Strauss Tennis Lounge and for upgrades to the teams' locker rooms in the Tom Oxley Center. These upgrades for our tennis student-athletes give them two facilities where they can feel at home and prepare to play to the best of their abilities. Â
We've also begun work on locker room upgrades at FAU Arena for the men's and women's basketball teams. These renovations are possible thanks to the generosity of Rocco and Mary Abessinio, who donated $3 million in support of our basketball arena.
We are also moving forward with upgrades at FAU Baseball Stadium. A new premium seating area, dubbed Paradise Hill is something we would like to see come to fruition. More details on this exciting new amenity will be announced in the weeks and months to come. In addition, new state-of-the-art LED lighting will be installed at the baseball stadium, as well.
Academics Update
The culture of academic success within FAU Athletics continues to grow. As a department, Owl student-athletes just completed their sixth straight year (12 consecutive semesters) with an average GPA of 3.0 or higher.
That kind of sustained excellence is a tribute to the hard work our student-athletes put forth in and out of the classroom. Our student-athletes, coaches and academics staff all play a part in this success and should be commended for it.
This past semester saw 23 Owls record a perfect 4.0 GPA, while 66 percent of our student-athletes were above the 3.0 mark. By team, 17 of our 19 programs were above 3.1. We look forward to a fall semester filled with success in the classroom, in the community and in competition.
Honoring Coach Schnellenberger
I referenced the home opener for football above. The night before our home opener will be a very special one inside FAU Stadium and on Howard Schnellenberger Field. We lost the legendary Howard Schnellenberger back in March and we've been working with his family since then to properly honor a legend in college football and the founding father of FAU Football.
One of the most significant ways we can honor Coach Schnellenberger will be Friday, Sept. 10. Beginning at 6 p.m., a Celebration of Life for Coach Schnellenberger will take place at FAU Stadium, with the main program and an incredible lineup of speakers set to begin at 7:30 p.m.
There is no admission charge for this event and I am personally inviting you to attend. Fans of college football and FAU Football, in particular, won't want to miss it. We look forward to seeing many of you at FAU Stadium next Friday to celebrate the life of a legend.
Paradise Pride
Throughout the summer, our Marketing, Community Relations and Ticketing teams have been hitting the streets and making as many connections as possible through our Paradise Pride program. The goal this summer was to introduce FAU Athletics to as many people in Palm Beach and Broward Counties as they can through almost any means necessary. We expect to see thousands of new FAU fans created through these efforts and look forward to welcoming them to campus through the fall and into winter and spring sports, as well.
Join Us On Campus
As mentioned above, our fall sports season has begun. We look forward to welcoming you to campus and encourage you to come support our student-athletes as often as possible. Our volleyball program has a dozen home matches coming up at FAU Arena. The men's and women's soccer teams have a combined 14 home games at FAU Soccer Stadium coming up over the next three months.
You can see all our teams' schedules at FAUSports.com.
As always, thanks for all your support of FAU Athletics!
Go Owls!
Sincerely,
Brian White
Vice President, Director of Athletics
As I sit down to write the first of these letters for the 2021-22 academic year, the calendar has just turned to September. Our fall sports seasons have begun, we are starting our football season tomorrow at Florida and our home football opener is right around the corner on Sept. 11.
The beginning of a school year is always exciting. It's especially exciting for us at FAU Athletics, as a new year brings even more opportunities for Winning In Paradise.
One of the most important factors in our ability to continue Winning In Paradise is the support of our incredibly generous donors. And we're definitely winning when it comes to the support we've received from some amazing gifts in the last week.
As you may have seen, we had the pleasure of announcing a $2.5 million gift to the football program from Michelle and Michael Hagerty last week. Thanks to the Hagertys' gift, the head football coach at FAU will be known as the Hagerty Family Head Football Coach in perpetuity. Their donation will also support the Chasing Greatness program, which is already paying dividends for our football program, as we'll soon be hiring a nutritionist and a player development staff member, while also greatly enhancing our overall student-athlete experience.
The Hagertys' gift is the fifth donation of $2.5 million or more we've received since March of 2018. Five of the top 10 gifts ever for FAU Athletics have come in that span.
Longtime fan and supporter Erich Sommerkamp made a $750,000 gift commitment to the Paradise Club earlier this week. With this commitment, Erich's lifetime giving to FAU Athletics is now over $1 million. He is the 14th individual or family donor to reach the $1 million mark. We could not be more grateful to Erich for his steadfast support of FAU Athletics over the past 20-plus years.
We've built some great momentum in fundraising. Overall giving increased to 147 percent of the previous year's total in the fiscal year 2020-21. And we expect to be able to announce even more significant gifts that will continue to enhance the experience for our student-athletes in the near future.
Facilities Update
Improving on and building new facilities is just one of the ways philanthropic support helps FAU Athletics continue to build on our upward trajectory. In July, we announced the largest gift ever to the Owls' men's and women's tennis programs.Â
Kim Strauss made a generous gift to the tennis programs, allowing for the creation of the Kim V. Strauss Tennis Lounge and for upgrades to the teams' locker rooms in the Tom Oxley Center. These upgrades for our tennis student-athletes give them two facilities where they can feel at home and prepare to play to the best of their abilities. Â
We've also begun work on locker room upgrades at FAU Arena for the men's and women's basketball teams. These renovations are possible thanks to the generosity of Rocco and Mary Abessinio, who donated $3 million in support of our basketball arena.
We are also moving forward with upgrades at FAU Baseball Stadium. A new premium seating area, dubbed Paradise Hill is something we would like to see come to fruition. More details on this exciting new amenity will be announced in the weeks and months to come. In addition, new state-of-the-art LED lighting will be installed at the baseball stadium, as well.
Academics Update
The culture of academic success within FAU Athletics continues to grow. As a department, Owl student-athletes just completed their sixth straight year (12 consecutive semesters) with an average GPA of 3.0 or higher.
That kind of sustained excellence is a tribute to the hard work our student-athletes put forth in and out of the classroom. Our student-athletes, coaches and academics staff all play a part in this success and should be commended for it.
This past semester saw 23 Owls record a perfect 4.0 GPA, while 66 percent of our student-athletes were above the 3.0 mark. By team, 17 of our 19 programs were above 3.1. We look forward to a fall semester filled with success in the classroom, in the community and in competition.
Honoring Coach Schnellenberger
I referenced the home opener for football above. The night before our home opener will be a very special one inside FAU Stadium and on Howard Schnellenberger Field. We lost the legendary Howard Schnellenberger back in March and we've been working with his family since then to properly honor a legend in college football and the founding father of FAU Football.
One of the most significant ways we can honor Coach Schnellenberger will be Friday, Sept. 10. Beginning at 6 p.m., a Celebration of Life for Coach Schnellenberger will take place at FAU Stadium, with the main program and an incredible lineup of speakers set to begin at 7:30 p.m.
There is no admission charge for this event and I am personally inviting you to attend. Fans of college football and FAU Football, in particular, won't want to miss it. We look forward to seeing many of you at FAU Stadium next Friday to celebrate the life of a legend.
Paradise Pride
Throughout the summer, our Marketing, Community Relations and Ticketing teams have been hitting the streets and making as many connections as possible through our Paradise Pride program. The goal this summer was to introduce FAU Athletics to as many people in Palm Beach and Broward Counties as they can through almost any means necessary. We expect to see thousands of new FAU fans created through these efforts and look forward to welcoming them to campus through the fall and into winter and spring sports, as well.
Join Us On Campus
As mentioned above, our fall sports season has begun. We look forward to welcoming you to campus and encourage you to come support our student-athletes as often as possible. Our volleyball program has a dozen home matches coming up at FAU Arena. The men's and women's soccer teams have a combined 14 home games at FAU Soccer Stadium coming up over the next three months.
You can see all our teams' schedules at FAUSports.com.
As always, thanks for all your support of FAU Athletics!
Go Owls!
Sincerely,
Brian White
Vice President, Director of Athletics
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