The Wayne Densch Charitable Trust has made the largest charitable gift commitment in the history of Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ Athletics.<\/p>\n
The Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ Foundation and Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ Athletics said the charitable gift of $4 million will support the construction of the Wayne Densch Center for Student-Athlete Leadership. The new center will be the centerpiece of Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½\u2019s vision to mold its student-athletes into community leaders who are prepared to make a difference in the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are very grateful to the Wayne Densch Charitable Trust and Leonard Williams for this record-setting gift,\u201d Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ Vice President and Director of Athletics Todd Stansbury said. \u201cMr. Densch was a wonderful supporter of Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ Athletics and we\u2019re absolutely thrilled to name the Wayne Densch Student-Athlete Leadership Center in his honor.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are first and foremost educators. This facility will allow us to deliver on our core mission of developing our Everyday Champion student-athletes into future leaders for many, many years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Wayne Densch Student-Athlete Leadership Center will serve as the headquarters for Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ student-athletes\u2019 personal, professional and academic development. It will house Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½\u2019s Student-Athlete Leadership Institute, Academic Services for Student-Athletes, Student Services and Compliance departments, while also providing operations space to serve more than 500 student-athletes. The center will include a multi-purpose classroom which will hold 200 students, a computer lab, tutoring and mentoring rooms, study space and conference and resource rooms.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Wayne Densch Charitable Trust has been a stalwart supporter of Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ Athletics for decades,\u201d said Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ President John C. Hitt. \u201cThis generous gift represents another milestone in the outstanding partnership between Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ and the Wayne Densch Charitable Trust to support our student-athletes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½\u2019s longstanding partnership with the late Wayne M. Densch dates back to 1985, when the Orlando businessman pledged $1 million to fund athletic scholarships. It also includes support for Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½\u2019s original athletic complex. Under the leadership of Leonard E. Williams, the charitable trust made a $2.5 million donation toward the construction of the Wayne Densch Sports Center, which opened in 2003 and is home to the Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ football program and the department\u2019s strength and conditioning centers.<\/p>\n
\u201cÂ鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ was his favorite team,\u201d said Williams, who serves as trustee of the Wayne Densch Charitable Trust. \u201cBecause Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ was Wayne\u2019s favorite charitable cause, we\u2019ve tried to continue honoring what he was doing when he was alive. I think he would be pleased by this gift.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wayne Densch, who passed away in 1994, had moved to Orlando from Kentucky. Densch was, according to Mr. Williams, \u201ca man who didn\u2019t hesitate to help, but one who didn\u2019t want the publicity.\u201d<\/p>\n
The $4 million gift to the Wayne Densch Center for Student-Athlete Leadership allows Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ to initiate the design phase of the $6.5 million project, while the remaining funds are raised. The Wayne Densch Center for Student-Athlete Leadership will be located just east of and adjacent to Bright House Networks Stadium. Construction is expected to begin in mid- to late 2014.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
$4 million gift from Wayne Densch Charitable Trust<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":56849,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[606,2510,6628,202],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-56848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-bright-house-networks-stadium","tag-john-c-hitt","tag-todd-stansbury","tag-alumni"],"yoast_head":"\n