Lehigh Athletics is excited to announce a rebranding of the Athletics Partnership Unrestricted Fund to The Dean's Fund for Athletics Excellence. As the primary financial steward for Lehigh Athletics, Murray H. Goodman '48 Dean of Athletics, Joe Sterrett ensures that all department spending is focused on the highest priorities while also maintaining equity in the student-athlete experience. The goal for the "Dean's Fund for Athletics Excellence" in the 2022-2023 fiscal year is to raise $500,000, which is part of the overall fiscal year 2023 Athletics Partnership goal of $3 million.

In speaking about the importance of gifts to the "Dean's Fund," which are not restricted to specific needs, Joe Sterrett explained,

"College Athletics programs today, irrespective of division, rely upon the financial support of alumni, family, and friends to augment the resources provided by their universities, their media deals or their commercial activities (ticket/merchandise sales, sponsorships, merchandise, etc.).  Among these philanthropically-based funding sources, the most meaningful commitments are those that are not specifically restricted as to use because these "unrestricted" funds expand support for the activities that serve ALL sports. Our newly rebranded  "Dean's Fund for Athletics Excellence" provides a critical source of financial support for our student-athlete development programs (Sports Performance Training, Flight 45 Leadership Development, Student-Athlete Academic Services, Sports Medicine, and more), and these funds help to ensure that we will continue to meet our commitments to gender equity.  To all our past donors, I thank you; to those who will help us to raise the bar, please know the impact of gifts to the Dean's Fund for Athletics Excellence extends well beyond the dollar totals."

Among those areas that have benefited from unrestricted gifts, the area of Sports Performance Training may have grown the most. At one time, all strength and movement workouts were conducted by coaches, most of whom were untrained in the complexity of performance training. Subsequently, that work was contracted to a third party entity, which increased professionalism but did not have the capacity to engage with all Lehigh teams. However, as funds permitted, a staff of full-time, certified and experienced professionals were hired to function as part of the Athletics Department. Today, all twenty-five Lehigh teams are engaged in sport-specific physical development programs led by the in-house Sports Performance team.  Without the unrestricted annual gift funding that was assigned to this priority need, the physical development of Lehigh's men's and women's athletes would have suffered.

Gifts to specific sports will remain the most understandable and direct way to impact the student- athlete experience, and our coaching staff are deeply grateful for the annual support we receive for sports.  Gifts to the Dean's Fund complement sport-specific funding, and help ensure that the developmental and competitive experience of every student athlete is adequately supported.

If you are interested in learning more about how you can make an impact on the Dean's Fund for Athletics Excellence, please contact Kristen Brannick at  kjl316@lehigh.edu or 610-758-6574, or Lisa Landis '97, '99G at lcd297@lehigh.edu or 610-758-6855.  More information on the Dean's Fund can be found in next week's release of our Annual Report.