Announcement from Chancellor Gow
4/4/2010 11:41:28 AM
La Crosse, Wis. - The following statement was released by University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Chancellor Joe Gow Sunday morning regarding the Eagles' baseball team.
'I'm delighted to let you know that thanks to the extraordinary generosity of two anonymous donors and fundraising organizers (a local couple) the UW-L Baseball program will be with us for at least the next five years. As you'll recall, massive state budget cuts forced us to end UW-L funding for baseball at the close of the 2008-09 academic year and it appeared that we would have to end a key athletic program with a long and rich history.
Fortunately, many private donors came forward and thanks to their kindness the UW-L Baseball program is able to operate during the current year. Nonetheless, it is very difficult to recruit talented players to UW-L if there is no assurance that the program will be here throughout the entire length of a student's career. That's why we're very fortunate to have a wonderfully committed couple who have assured us that the minimum funds needed for the next five years will be raised and provided.
Because there is much more fundraising to be done to ensure our Baseball program is here permanently a group called "Friends of Baseball at UW-L" is now being formed. This group will take the lead in raising monies not only for the next five years, but on into perpetuity. We very enthusiastically support their efforts and look forward to an announcement soon about the membership of the group.
In the meantime, I wish I could tell you the names of the couple who have come forward to make such a kind and extraordinary commitment to save UW-L Baseball, but they want our attention to be focused on the future of Eagle Baseball rather than upon themselves. This is a remarkable display of modesty that can serve as an inspiration to us all. We are, indeed, very fortunate to have people in our community who are so selflessly dedicated to ensuring a bright future for UW-L athletics!"