Malzahn and Pearl pledge $500k to scholarship campaign
AUBURN, Ala. (auburntigers.com) – Auburn University head football coach Gus Malzahn and head men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl have come together to pledge $500,000 toward the campus-wide Because This is Auburn comprehensive campaign.
Both coaches have structured their gifts to create two endowed scholarships for first-generation students, which will be appropriately named the Gus and Kristi Malzahn Endowed Scholarship for First-Generation Scholars and the Bruce and Brandy Pearl Endowed Scholarship for First-Generation Scholars.
The remainder of their gifts will be used for the investment in Auburn Athletics academic programming for student-athletes. Student-Athlete Support Services provides a number of programs to help ensure student-athlete academic success from the time they enter Auburn as a freshman to graduation. These programs include: academic counseling, mentoring, tutoring, life skills and career development.
“We’re a family here at Auburn. Investing in the students and their future is important to me, and it’s important to Kristi,” Malzahn said. “The success of this campaign is a credit to the Auburn Family and everybody being in this thing together. We believe in Auburn and what it stands for and that’s what makes it special.”
“To whom much is given, much is expected. Brandy and I feel blessed to have this opportunity to make a gift that will make a difference in the future of Auburn University,” Pearl said. “We both believed we should provide some leadership in this campaign. Our gift is a gift to all students and to Auburn University, not just to Athletics.”
On Friday, Auburn University announced the Because This is Auburn comprehensive campaign had reached its goal of $1 billion in record time with 16 months remaining in the campaign. Launched on April 18, 2015, the university has, to date, received 393,113 gifts from more than 95,000 donors, 131 of which have given $1 million or more. Endowed gifts account for more than a third of the campaign’s total.
“Gifts like these from Coach Malzahn and Coach Pearl allow us to make dreams come true for the outstanding young student-athletes who represent Auburn,” Director of Athletics Jay Jacobs said. “These gifts are particularly special because they will also provide an incredible opportunity for future first-generation college students who aren’t athletes.”
“The generous contributions made by Coach Malzahn and Coach Pearl show us what I already knew to be true: They believe in Auburn and love it.”
Because This is Auburn supports four major areas: students, faculty, programs, and facilities. Presently, the campaign has resulted in the creation of nearly 1,000 new scholarships for students and 89 new endowed chairs and professorships for educators and researchers. Donors have invested more than $537 million in new programs, and gifts of more than $132 million are building new facilities and reimagining existing campus facilities.
