‘Courageous’ Action Nets UA $1.25 Million Donation
by April 17, 2012 4:06 pm 94 views
University of Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long (right) addresses the University of Arkansas System Board of Trustees on Wednesday (Jan. 27) about the planned $160 million renovation of the Donald W. Reynolds Razorback football stadium on the UA campus in Fayetteville.
The University of Arkansas announced today two separate donations totaling $1.25 million, the result of recent “courageous leadership” by athletics director Jeff Long.
The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation approved a $1 million gift, while Reynolds Foundation Board Chair Fred W. Smith made a separate, personal donation of $250,000.
The money will help fund the university’s planned Student-Athlete Success Center, a multipurpose academic resource and study center and dining hall to be used by the university’s 460 student-athletes.
In addition, Smith’s donation will rename the university’s existing student-athlete development program as the Jeff Long Student-Athlete Development Program.
“The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation is pleased to make a gift to assist in the construction of a new Student-Athlete Success Center and to create the Jeff Long Student-Athlete Development Program at the University of Arkansas,” Smith said in a news release. “For more than 57 years, the Reynolds Foundation has identified and financially supported organizations and their leaders whose vision is to make a lasting impact in the lives of others.”
Long has received overwhelming recognition on a state and national level for his decision to terminate the contract of head football coach Bobby Petrino.
“The courageous leadership demonstrated by Jeff Long in the course of recent events has further affirmed our confidence in his leadership and his vision for intercollegiate athletics at the University of Arkansas,” Smith continued. “Mr. Long acted with integrity and with the best interests of Razorback student-athletes and the University of Arkansas in mind.”
Smith also shared the reasons behind his own personal gift to the university in Long’s name.
“In addition to the Reynolds Foundation gift, I am honored to make a personal gift of $250,000 to the Student-Athlete Success Center and the student-athlete development program,” Smith stated. “My family is extremely proud of the University of Arkansas and all that it represents. We are grateful to Chancellor [G. David] Gearhart and Vice Chancellor Long for their tremendous leadership and guidance of this great institution that continues to hold a special place in the hearts of the Smith family.”
The Student-Athlete Success Center is one of the proposed facilities outlined in the recently released Razorback Athletic Master Facility Plan.
The center will house academic support facilities, including group and individual tutorial rooms, study hall areas, a large auditorium, computer labs, multi-media, career planning, service learning and community service areas.
Long said the news of the donations took him aback.
“When Chancellor Gearhart called to tell me that the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation and Fred Smith had made substantial gifts in my name to our university, I was surprised and truly humbled,” Long said in the release. “I am extremely grateful to the Reynolds Foundation and the Smith family for their continued investment in the lives of Razorback student-athletes and the University of Arkansas. Our student-athlete development program remains a focus of our department and of great importance to me.”