The Athletic Department launched the Charger Champions Club in July to create a new way for donors to support and interact with athletics at the college.
“We really felt we had an opportunity to encourage unity in the athletic department, especially as our college grows in prominence,” Athletic Director John Tharp said. “A one team vision really appeals to alumni who see where the college is headed.”
Tharp met with former Hillsdale athletes over the summer in anticipation of the Charger Champions Club launch and to highlight the goal of the program.
“We are a rising force in education, probably the strongest in the country,” Tharp said. “We hope to match that with athletics.”
Bill Gray, Vice President of Institutional Advancement, said he believes a unified giving club will encourage former athletes to remain connected with Hillsdale after they leave, and to reinvest in the tradition from which they came.
Before this year, the giving strategy required that donors give to one of 16 separate varsity programs, rather than supporting athletics as a whole.
Directors of the project pursued this unification effort with the stated goal of “driving philanthropic support for all 16 of Hillsdale College’s varsity sports teams and over 400 student athletes.”
The Athletic Department also set a goal to renew a vision of true college athletics.
“Sports are so much a spectacle today that sometimes we forget their purpose. They are part of the holistic educational pursuit,” Tharp said. “We want to develop minds and improve hearts. We want to cultivate school spirit for current and past students as we cultivate our athletes.”
When the track and field team hosted its first G-MAC Championship at the new facility, Dennis Knoblock, Kim Losik, and Julie Donofrio-Kramp reached out to volunteer. Knoblock and Losik graduated as student-athletes from Hillsdale in 1976 and now serve on the alumni board. Knoblock played football and Losik played baseball. All three plan to join the Charger Champions Club.
“We are excited that they wanted to help with a sport they didn’t play,” Executive Assistant to the Athletic Director Haley Ketchum said. “It goes to show that Coach Tharp and everyone involved in the formation of the Charger Champions Club were right – Hillsdale students want to give back.”
While on campus, Hillsdale athletes also have the opportunity to branch out and support athletes in other disciplines.
“Very often, athletes make friends with other athletes,” Ketchum said. “And our message encourages friends of the college to similarly become one team. By making the giving strategy one club, we expect bonds to grow.”
Donors will still have the chance to donate to specific programs, and any donation will gain them admission into the Charger Champions Club for the year during which they donate. The Athletic Department has also planned various events and incorporated benefits for those who give.
“We want to think of fun and engaging ways for students to give back,” Gray said. “We want everyone who gives to see the fruit of their donation in Charger athletics.”