The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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athletics Inside Michigan Athletic Department Receives $100 Million From Stephen M. Ross O n the top floor of the Stephen M. Ross School Of Business, with an incredible view overlooking The Big House in the distance, the building's namesake announced a charitable gift to the university that will pay dividends for decades to come. Ross, the owner of the Miami Dolphins and a graduate from the Michigan Business School, donated a record-breaking $200 million to the university, with $100 million allocated for the Business School and $100 million allocated for the athletic department. Ross views his time as a student in Ann Arbor as a pivotal period of his life. He has always wanted to give back to the university — and, now, he wanted to do the same for the athletic department, which he views as an integral part of the overall Michigan experience, for students and studentathletes alike. "The level of school spirit at Michigan probably does not exist on any other campus in the country," Ross said during a Q&A session with Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman. "When you meet people from Michigan, they are thrilled to have gone there, probably more than any other school in the country. "What the athletics department does for the school itself, it spills over. It doesn't exist in other schools. "Living in the East and seeing eastern schools, I tried to convince my daughters to come here. In my mind, anyone who has an opportunity to come to Michigan should grab it." For Michigan athletics director Dave Brandon, the gift is of a magnitude never seen before. "This is a historic day," Brandon said. "Certainly, the Business School has experienced a $100 million donation before, thanks to the generosity of Steve. Michigan athletics has never received anything close to this. This is truly a transformational gift that will have a dramatic impact on our athletic program for decades to come, and we can't thank him enough for his generosity. "It affords us to give our studentathletes facilities to study in, prepare academically in, all the way to strength and conditioning, health and wellness, practice facilities and competition facilities. "Every one of our 31 teams will