March 3, 2016

Sustainable Excellence looks to get across the goal line

Alumnus Chris Fowler of ESPN talks with Chancellor Phil DiStefano and President Bruce Benson

​We had a great event last week to celebrate the success of the Sustainable Excellence initiative at CU-Boulder.

The scholarship endowment and facilities upgrade program in our intercollegiate athletics department has raised more than $94 million so far through friends of the university.

The goal of $105 million ($85 million in capital funding, $20 million in scholarship endowment) is within sight. Yet to be nationally recognized as a premier athletics department – providing a world-class and holistic student-athlete experience, operating in a fiscally responsible manner while consistently competing for and winning championships – we still have work to do. And Athletic Director Rick George and his team are doing a great job.

CU-Boulder alumnus Chris Fowler of ESPN, center left, served as host, and there was great excitement from the crowd of more than 300 of our friends and supporters.

CU-Boulder athletics Sustainable Excellence
Sustainable Excellence culminates in state-of-the-art facilities. It is home to the Champions Center, featuring a high performance sports center (open to the public), sport medicine facilities, strength training, locker and equipment rooms, conference and meeting sites and the Rooftop Terrace for game day and special events.

The facility houses a 120,000 square-foot, self-sustaining multi-purpose indoor practice facility complete with a football field and six-lane, 300-meter track. It will serve all sports programs and allow CU to host sanctioned track and field events indoors.

The Dal Ward building renovations include a sports medicine facility for all Olympic sports and feature a new Olympic sport weight room with a cardio area and yoga room, locker room facilities for women’s tennis, women’s soccer, men’s and women’s ski, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s track and cross country, and spirit programs. The expansion also triples existing space to accommodate all academic programs, space for our Leadership Development Program, and the Touchdown Club for game-day and special events.

As you can see, the benefits of this initiative will reach beyond athletics into the classroom, the community and the university as a whole. There are several ways to help us cross the finish line. You can check out giving opportunities here or be immortalized as a supporter of CU with our Legacy Bricks. We appreciate your continued support of CU.