Meeting the donors
UD athletes bond with the donors behind their scholarships
4:33 p.m., May 5, 2016--Bob Locke treasures his time at the University of Delaware. More than 45 years after he graduated, his days on the school's swim team linger in his memories, and for a moment during the evening, his unyielding Blue Hen spirit was plain in the smile that lit his face.
He had just seen Garrett Sharesky, the senior business major and swim team standout who is being supported this year by the William and Mary Locke Scholarship. As they chatted and grinned together at this year's Celebration of Scholarship - Athletics on April 27 at the Bob Carpenter Sports/Convocation Center, it was clear that the bond between the two was already strong.
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And all around the room, that sense of special connection would grow through the evening as the dozens of student-athletes and their donors chatted and dined together at the annual event celebrating the value that athletic scholarships – and the donors and athletes themselves – bring to Blue Hen sports programs year after year.
“He does so much for the program, and he has made it possible for me to do what I do now,” said Sharesky, recipient of the scholarship named in honor of Bob Locke’s parents.
“When I came to Delaware – and it was my mother’s dream that she had a child who went to college – I got a scholarship,” Locke said. “I just made up my mind that if I was ever in a position to do anything, I would. It was one way of staying in touch and being interested. I was very fortunate, because as a swimmer, I met friends and teammates that I am still in touch with.”
This year’s Celebration of Scholarship - Athletics hosted 40 donors and more than 50 athletic scholarship recipients who excel in a wide range of UD sports, from football to field hockey to swimming. Just this academic year, UD offered 80 named athletic scholarships.
Two new football scholarships were also established over the past year, one made possible by Jim and Pat Skeans, lifelong Blue Hen fans and longtime athletics donors who decided it was time to make their generosity more personal.
“To help a student, to know who that student is, it gives you a good feeling,” said Jim Skeans.
That feeling was evident in one of the night’s captivating keynote speeches, delivered by soccer player and scholarship recipient Ben Sampson, a senior electrical engineering major who said he considers his fellow athletes and the donors to be family – “If we have succeeded,” he told the crowd, “it is because you lift us up on your wings.”
Through scholarships, he concluded, students are given a world of possibilities not only for their college years, but through the decades ahead. “I had dreams of who I wanted to be, and what I wanted to do before I came to UD, and I still have dreams now,” he said. “So thank you for letting me chase them. Thank you for letting us chase them.”
UD Athletics Hall of Famer Joe Purzycki, an All-American defensive back and assistant football coach at UD before his career as a prominent local bank executive, echoed Sampson’s message of camaraderie.
“You are a part of something much greater than you know,” explained Purzycki. “When you walk on that field, thousands walk with you, linked arm and arm. When you win, they celebrate.”
For some donors and scholars, this year's event was their first chance to meet one another. For others, like Locke and Sharesky, it was the continuation of a relationship that has been sustained over time.
“I met him last year when our captain was the recipient,” Sharesky said. “He’s always around at meets, and we ended up talking about training a lot. He’s a really nice guy, and he does so much for the program.”
Other students came to the event hoping to pick their donors out of the crowd to offer some heartfelt thanks. Speaker Marjelle Scheffers, a junior from The Netherlands, is playing field hockey thanks to the David M. and Shirley R. Nelson Athletic Scholarship, represented at the event by Shirley Nelson, her daughter Amy and family members Gary Connell and Ashley Connell.
The scholarship was established in honor of David M. and Shirley R. Nelson. David Nelson was a UD football coach in the 1950s who later became athletic director at UD. His children fondly remember cheering on the Fightin’ Blue Hens throughout his tenure with the team.
“We grew up going to all the football games — away and at home,” said Amy Connell. “We rode the bus with the team and when they won we got to eat dinner with them. It was important for us to create this legacy to honor my parents.”
With the help of the Nelson scholarship, Scheffers will graduate from UD with a degree in biomedical engineering, and carry that forward into a career as an orthopedic surgeon.
“It’s so special that people support athletes here without even knowing who they are,” she said. “Without the scholarship, I couldn’t do what I’m doing now. I literally wouldn't be here.”
Article by Eric Ruth and Nadine Sabater
Photos by Mark Campbell