A Proud Tradition
Campaign for Delaware:
Building a Tradition of Excellence
Today, the Blue Hens stand tall as one of the most successful athletics programs in the nation—something in which each of us can take great pride. The evidence of that success is phenomenal: five national football championships, a field hockey team that has a perennial place in the top 20, one of the finest baseball programs in the East, and four visits to the men’s NCAA basketball tournament in the 1990s. Our athletics teams also garnered a string of ten consecutive America East Conference Stuart P. Haskell Jr. Commissioner’s Cups, a distinction conferred on the institution whose teams compile the strongest record during the year in all conference championship programs, and are now competing in the extremely competitive Colonial Athletic Association.
With competition in 23 varsity sports—11 men’s and 12 women’s—the Blue Hens are a remarkable collection of energy and enthusiasm. The more than 600 young men and women who compete for the Blue Hens reflect a commitment to the highest standards of athletic competition. From Hugh Bogovich (in 1942, Delaware football’s first All-American), to three-time All-American field hockey player Carol Miller (now head coach of the UD field hockey team), to Collegiate Baseball Magazine’s 1998 player of the year Kevin Mench, some of the finest young men and women to compete at the college level have suited up for the Blue Hens.
Unquestionably, athletics are a vital part of the University community. They are a link to the public, a way to connect audiences throughout the state and region with the work of a major university. In fact, for many Delaware residents, some of their earliest memories are of watching one of the Blue Hen teams in action.
What we are today owes much to the energy and effort of some remarkable visionaries, early pioneers in the UD athletics program. It owes much to the hard work of outstanding players. And it owes much to the commitment and support of individuals like you—benefactors who are helping cement the Blue Hen’s reputation as an NCAA powerhouse.