Lehigh Athletics is worked up to announce a rebranding of the Athletics Partnership Unrestricted Fund to The Dean’s Fund for Athletics Excellence. As the first monetary steward for Lehigh Athletics, Murray H. Goodman ’48 Dean of Athletics, Joe Sterrett ensures that each one division spending is targeted on the best priorities whereas additionally sustaining fairness within the student-athlete expertise. The objective for the “Dean’s Fund for Athletics Excellence” within the 2022-2023 fiscal yr is to lift $500,000, which is a part of the general fiscal yr 2023 Athletics Partnership objective of $3 million.
In talking concerning the significance of presents to the “Dean’s Fund,” which aren’t restricted to particular wants, Joe Sterrett defined,
“School Athletics packages at the moment, no matter division, rely on the monetary assist of their media offers or their industrial actions (ticket/merchandise gross sales, sponsorships, merchandise, and so forth.). Amongst these philanthropically-based funding sources, probably the most of alumni, household and buddies to reinforce the assets supplied by their universities, significant commitments are these that aren’t particularly restricted as to make use of as a result of these “unrestricted” funds broaden assist for the actions that serve ALL sports activities. Our newly rebranded “Dean’s Fund for Athletics Excellence” gives a essential supply of economic assist for our student-athlete growth packages (Sports activities Efficiency Coaching, Flight 45 Management Improvement, Scholar-Athlete Educational Companies, Sports activities Medication, and extra), and these funds assist to make sure that we’ll proceed to fulfill our commitments to gender fairness. To all our previous donors, I thanks; to those that will assist us to lift the bar, please know the impression of presents to the Dean’s Fund for Athletics Excellence extends properly past the greenback totals.”
Amongst these areas which have benefited from unrestricted presents, the world of Sports activities Efficiency Coaching might have grown probably the most. At one time, all energy and motion exercises have been performed by coaches, most of whom have been untrained within the complexity of efficiency coaching. Subsequently, that work was contracted to a 3rd get together entity, which elevated professionalism however didn’t have the capability to interact with all Lehigh groups. Nevertheless, as funds permitted, a workers of full-time, licensed and skilled professionals have been employed to operate as a part of the Athletics Division. Right now, all twenty-five Lehigh groups are engaged in sport-specific bodily growth packages led by the in-house Sports activities Efficiency staff. With out the unrestricted annual reward funding that was assigned to this precedence want, the bodily growth of Lehigh’s males’s and ladies’s athletes would have suffered.
Items to particular sports activities will stay probably the most comprehensible and direct technique to impression the student- athlete expertise, and our teaching workers are deeply grateful for the annual assist we obtain for sports activities. Items to the Dean’s Fund complement sport-specific funding, and assist be sure that the developmental and aggressive expertise of each pupil athlete is sufficiently supported.
If you’re taken with studying extra about you can also make an impression on the Dean’s Fund for Athletics Excellence, please contact Kristen Brannick at kjl316@lehigh.edu or 610-758-6574, or Lisa Landis ’97, ’99G at lcd297@lehigh.edu or 610-758-6855. Extra data on the Dean’s Fund may be present in subsequent week’s launch of our Annual Report.
