Cavalier Corner is the publication just for UVa sports fans!
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FEBRUARY 2023 3 Dear Cavalier Fans, We hope you had a restful holiday and that your new year is off to a great beginning. Before we launch fully into our 2023 fundraising year, I would like to thank each of you for your tremendous com- mitment and support of Virginia athletics during 2022. Your generosity helped us achieve the following: ■ Annual Fund: Achieved a record-breaking $19.72 million towards a goal of $20 million. ■ Master Plan: Almost $7 million in new commitments and construction began on the Football Operations Center. ■ Endowed Scholarships: 16 new scholarships were created with over $5.5 million in total commitments, which also qualified for $2.5 million in matching funds from the University. ■ Sport-Specific Enhancement Funds: Over $4 million in commitments for sport-spe- cific operating needs. ■ Cavalier Academic Achievement Fund: $1.1 million in new commitments to support academic awards. ■ Planned Gifts/Bequests: $34 million in new future gift commitments were docu- mented by donors focusing on estate planning. These results are just a snapshot of the remarkably passionate and generous donor base and will allow our coaches and student-athletes to achieve new heights in 2023. While 2022 provided several highlights, we still have significant challenges and op- portunities for growth in 2023. The Annual Fund did not achieve our initial target of $20 million and will need to grow significantly in 2023. We will need each of our donors to renew their Annual Fund commitment for this year and ask you to make your pledge as soon as we launch the 2023 Annual Fund in February. In addition, if you have any friends or family members who are not currently supporting the program, please encourage them to do so. Growing our donor base will strengthen our foundation of support. We are grateful to all who made commitments to the new Cavalier Academic Achieve- ment Fund. Our goal is to provide $1.9 million of awards each year to our student-ath- letes. Without the funding for these awards our coaches are at a recruiting disadvantage. Gifts of all sizes are encouraged to support this effort. The fundraising for Phase III of the Master Plan, the Olympic Sports Center and reno- vation of the McCue Center, is well underway and we must complete this effort to ensure "on time" construction of this much-needed facility. We saw significant growth in major gifts ($25,000 or more) to sport-specific enhance- ment funds in 2022. This will continue to be an area of focus for our staff, especially to support our football program, as we work to increase the operating resources to compete at the highest level. Lastly, there are still matching funds available from the University's Bicentennial Scholars Fund for new endowed scholarship commitments. This is a great opportunity for interested fans to establish a legacy scholarship that is awarded to a specific student-athlete each year. Each endowed scholarship is matched 50% and creates an annual distribution to ease some of the pressure to fund scholarships through gift to the Annual Fund. We remain incredibly thankful for the generosity of our entire donor base and look forward to working with you in 2023. Thank you for your ongoing commitment to sup- port our 27 varsity sports programs. Best regards, Dirk P. Katstra Executive Director 2023 BOARD OF TRUSTEES OFFICERS President Franklin S. Edmonds Jr., Charlottesville, Va. Vice President Rachel Ward Sheridan, McLean, Va. Secretary-Treasurer Dirk P. Katstra, Charlottesville, Va. Immediate Past President Juliana S. O'Reilly, McLean, Va. TRUSTEES Mia M. Bass, Alexandria, Va. Charles R. Birdsong, Suffolk, Va. Marvin P. Bush, Arlington, Va. Ned Durden, Charlotte, N.C. W. Heywood Fralin, Roanoke, Va. Michael S. Geismar, Charlottesville, Va. Marvin W. Gilliam Jr., Bristol, Va. Raleigh Anne Gray, Charlotte, N.C. Christopher A. Harrison, Washington, D.C. Katherine L. Heilpern, New York, N.Y. Yusef D. Jackson, Chicago, Ill. Lauren Lacey, Hershey, Pa. Mark M. Luellen, Charlottesville, Va. T. Douglas McQuade, Roanoke, Va. Herman Moore, Lake Orion, Mich. Craig W. Packer, Greenwich, Conn. Barry L. Parkhill, Keswick, Va. Andrew S. Peskin, Manakin Sabot, Va. Jill Royster, Santa Monica, Calif. Alexander Wellford Tabor, Charlotte, N.C. Carla G. Williams, Charlottesville, Va. MISSION STATEMENT The Virginia Athletics Foundation, through its fundraising efforts, strives to support a preeminent intercollegiate athletics program at the University of Virginia by providing student- athletes the opportunity to achieve academic and athletic excellence. VIRGINIA ATHLETICS FOUNDATION P.O. Box 400833 Charlottesville, VA 22904-4833 (434) 982-5555 | (800) 626-8723 (434) 982-5025 FAX www.VirginiaAthleticsFoundation.com Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/VirginiaAthleticsFoundation