GGF Donor Recognition

Donor Recognition

Scholarship Endowments ("Forever Gold" Program)

Maintaining a top Division I athletics program requires sustained resources that can be relied on year after year. With that in mind, scholarship endowments are a top fundraising priority and the focus of the Forever Gold Scholarship Endowment Program.

The cost of athletics scholarships at the University of Minnesota has risen dramatically in the last ten years. An in-state scholarship (tuition, books, fees, and room & board) costs $19,000 a year. The total scholarship cost for the athletics department each year now totals nearly $8.8 million.

Forever Gold was created to establish and strengthen long-term endowments which provide scholarship money year after year thorough annual investment and interest income. The goal is to eventually endow all student-athlete scholarships at the University of Minnesota. A gift of $25,000 or more is required to establish a new endowment. Endowed scholarships can be named for the donor or a donor-designated honoree, and naming opportunities are based upon the size of the endowment gift.

Golden Gopher Endowed Scholarships and Recipients

Golden Gopher Fund Director's Award Recipients

This recognition was started Joel Maturi’s first year as Athletic Director– 2002 – as a way for Intercollegiate Athletics to show “gratitude for outstanding service and commitment to the University of Minnesota’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics program and its student-athletes.” The Directors Award recognizes these top benefactors for not only their dedication and passion to Gopher athletics but their financial support as well. These award winners have truly made a difference in the history of University of Minnesota Athletics. The award is given out annually at our Golden Gopher Fund Banquet each October.

2001	Pinky McNamara
2002	Dick Ames
	Deborah Olson
2003	Peggy Lucas
	Lou Nanne
2004	Kathleen C. Ridder
	Rodney S. Wallace
2005	Bill & Kay McReavy
2006	Julianne Bye
	Lee & Louise Sundet
2007	The McNamara family
2008	Bill & Terry Dircks

Patty Berg & Henry Williams Legacy Scholar Athletes

These awards were established in order to honor the legacy of Patty Berg and Henry Williams by recognizing each year, an outstanding female and male student-athlete at the University of Minnesota.

Patty Berg was a student at the University who later became a famed professional golfer and was one of the founding members of the LPGA. She has been honored as one of the NCAA's 100 most influential student-athletes of the century. We are honored for the legacy that she left behind and honor that with this award.

Dr. Henry L. Williams, known affectionatly, as Doc Williams, was an outstanding Gopher Football coach in the early 1900s and who emphasized the combination of academic and athletic excellence all of our student-athletes strive to achieve.

Recipients of these awards are evaluated on:

Demonstrated academic and athletic success
And the CORE values of the Athletic Department
- Pride
- Personal Integrity
- Respect for Human Dignity
- Loyalty

2004	Kelly Stephens, Women's Hockey
	Guillermo Alvarez, Men's Gymnastics
2005	Shannon Bolden, Women's Basketball
	Greg Eslinger, Football
2006	Kadian Douglas, Women's Cross Country/Track & Field
	Matt Spaeth, Football
2007	Kelly Roysland, Women's Basketball/Volleyball
	Tyler Schmidt, Men's Swimming & Diving
2008	Jenny Shaughnessy, Women's Swimming & Diving
	Matt Nohelty, Baseball

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