20 Inside Hokie Sports ATHLETICSANNUALREPORT Hokie Nation showed that it is strong together during the 20212022 year in athletics. At the conclusion of the fiscal year, Virginia Tech Athletics will have raised or committed more than $40 million to benefit the experiences of nearly 600 student-athletes that call Blacksburg home. Large strides were made to move forward with the “Reach for Excellence” campaign, a $400 million effort and the largest ever campaign for Virginia Tech Athletics. HALFWAY TO REACHING FOR EXCELLENCE As part of the university’s wider-reaching Boundless Impact: The Campaign for Virginia Tech, the Reach for Excellence campaign surpassed the halfway mark of over $200 million in funds raised since its launch in April 2021. Exponential growth has been made in the areas of sports-specific fundraising, expansion of the Football Enhancement Fund, and increase in scholarship endowment. DRIVE FOR 25 COMPLETED The ambitious goal originally set in 2016 to elevate Hokie Club membership to 25,000 members was achieved in February 2022. The Hokie Club consisted of under 10,000 donors during late 2016, and membership total at the conclusion of the 2022 Drive Year saw that number skyrocket to 29,056 members. The achievement of the Drive for 25 was celebrated on February 14, 2022 during the men’s basketball contest vs. UVA at Cassell Coliseum. Director of Athletics Whit Babcock joined Neal Henshaw, the 25,000th donor, his daughter Autumn, longtime athletics supporter Suzanne Gardner, and former head football coach Frank Beamer to commemorate the completion of this historic moment for Virginia Tech Athletics. BUILDING A CHAMPION ON THE GRIDIRON Supplementing operational dollars and bolstering Football philanthropic support is one of the main pillars of the Reach for Excellence campaign, and Hokie Nation certainly rose to the challenge. The “Team F1rst” group was established with cooperation from Virginia Tech Athletics, the Hokie Club and University Advancement in the hopes of allocating substantial philanthropic funding to raise Virginia Tech Football’s budget near the top of the ACC. Along with Team F1rst, pivotal major gifts have been committed to football, including: the Sanghani Family’s generous contribution to the new Player’s Lounge, and Win Sheridan’s $5 million commitment to improve the Frank Beamer Locker Room. Alumni involvement also saw an encouraging uptick in 2021-2022, with impactful gifts coming from Bruce Arians, the Fuller brothers, and Tim Settle. SPORT-SPECIFIC GIVING SURGES Virginia Tech Athletics and the Hokie Club devised successful strategies to fulfill the programmatic needs of all 22 varsity sports. The “Triumph Together” campaign in September 2021 and the university’s Giving Day in February 2022 were both devoted to sport-specific contributions, raising a combined total of nearly $2 million in the span of both 48-hour periods. Athletics continues to REACH for EXCELLENCE Hokie Club celebrates record breaking year in fundraising Whit Babcock and Frank Beamer celebrate the Drive for 25 completion alongside Neal Henshaw, Autumn Henshaw and Suzanne Gardner.
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