Ohio Athletics announces academic center fundraising campaign.
Ohio University announced a fundraising campaign Wednesday for a new "state-of-the-art" academic center, which will be located in the north end zone of Peden Stadium.
The new facility will be dedicated for the use of Ohio University student-athletes, to further enhance their academic goals, the university said in a news release.
In June 2014, The Ohio University Foundation received a lead gift commitment of $2.25 million from Perry and Sandy Sook in support of the project. The final fundraising goal for the project is $5.5 million.
“Building a new academic center supports our vision of providing a top-tier student learning experience for our student-athletes,” said Ohio University President Roderick J. McDavis.
McDavis continued: "They are students first and foremost and providing OHIO student-athletes with a facility will only help us to achieve our goal of supporting their academic success and degree attainment at a higher level.”
Director of Athletics Jim Schaus echoed that sentiment, but noted that "for this facility to become a reality, we have to generate more resources."
The fundraising campaign will seek to exceed the final fundraising goal of $5.5 million, with the hope that any additional funds could help maximize building quality and finance annual maintenance costs.
"I encourage everyone to consider how they might participate in this once-in-a-lifetime project," Schaus said.
The center will serve more than 450 students annually, Perry Sook, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive of Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc., said in a youtube video posted by the OU Alumni Association.
"Student athletes are ambassadors of the university," Perry Sook said, sitting next to his wife, Sandy, in the video, which can be found below.
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