ESU FOUNDATION

caMPaign

Fundraising for academic programs, athletic facilities and increasing available scholarship funds for students has been a focus for the ESU Foundation over the past year. Partnering with multiple university departments in its efforts, the Foundation has hit or surpassed goals in several fundraising campaigns with exciting projects that benefit students soon to be realized. Below is an update to several fundraising campaigns and their respective projects:

you win in the locker room first campaign

The $750,000 fundraising campaign to build a new Warrior football locker room in Koehler Fieldhouse has crossed $874,000. Demolition of the space began in April with expectations of completion of the new locker room by the fall football season. The locker room will be built in the current visiting team locker room footprint, a space larger than the current locker room. Within the new space, the 18-inch metal lockers will be replaced by 30-inch-wide, open, state-of-the-art, cherry-wood lockers. The inefficient drying room will be replaced with a pad drying system on top of each locker. The closed, row system of lockers will be replaced by an open concept to enhance student-athlete interaction, coach communication, and team engagement.

sheska stadium campaign

To be named after Jerry Sheska ’68, ESU’s men’s soccer coach for 29 years (1982-2010) and women’s coach for three (1992-1994), Sheska Soccer Stadium will be built in the heart of campus adjacent to Eiler-Martin Stadium where the baseball field was once located. To date, more than $138,000 in cash, verbal and written commitments have been received for the project. When complete, the $2.5 million facility will attract top talent to ESU, it will aid in admissions for student-athletes, and provide a home facility where alumni, family and fans can attend games and events. Its features will include a new NCAA regulation turf soccer field, perimeter fencing, spectator seating, field lighting, a press box, scoreboard and sound system. for more information on how to support these projects, please contact the ESU foundation at esufoundation@esufoundation.org or 570-422-3333.

esports lab

The ESU Foundation has raised $225,000 to purchase equipment and construct ESU’s emerging electronic sports (Esports) program. The Esports lab will create an innovative game-based learning environment that develops new models of learning, specifically in emerging digital media technology fields where science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) principles can be shared. ESU will purchase state-of-the-art computers, software, gaming furniture and equipment for the lab space that will be located on the first floor of Rosenkrans East.

community health education and simulation center

More than 1,100 square feet in the DeNike Center for Human Services has been earmarked for the Community Health Education & Simulation Center. The center will offer simulation training for nursing, athletic training, and other health science students, regional healthcare professionals, and community members. This environment will complement traditional academic offerings. Once the simulation lab is functional, the lab will be regarded as an attractive feature to complement health studies at ESU. It will also be available for use by many stakeholders in the region. More than $850,000 has been raised for the project, which had an original target amount of $750,000.

Artist’s rendering of Sheska Soccer Stadium Illustration of the type of work in the Community Health Education & Simulation Center.

The $500,000 fundraising campaign to support ESU Women’s Acrobatics and Tumbling has raised more than $115,600 in cash and pledges to date. The committee, chaired by Bruno Klaus and Alumni Vice Chairs Sue Bateman Walton ’90 and Anthony “Tony” Gehman ’78, are busy planning additional outreach efforts in the coming months to request alumni and corporate support for the program. Funds raised will be used to support recruitment costs, equipment needs, travel and athletic scholarships. The fundraising committee is comprised of alumni from various generations of the former ESU Men’s and Women’s gymnastics teams and friends of ESU athletics, all working closely with the ESU Foundation, Warrior Athletics Department and head coach Miles Avery. ESU Women’s Acrobatics and Tumbling is one of 39 teams established under NCAA emerging sports status. Competition is slated for the 2021-2022 academic year.

scholarship funds

Scholarship support is often what makes it possible for students to pursue their education at ESU and remains a steadfast focus among the Foundation’s priorities. In fiscal year 20202021, the Foundation provided 674 awards totaling $1,037,728. Generous donors have also created 14 annual and seven endowed new scholarships this year.

for more information on these campaigns and other ways to support ESU and its students, visit www.esufoundation.org or call 570-422-3333.

Given the past year, the statement rings truer than ever and the East Stroudsburg University foundation embraced the theme for its 12th annual Scholarship Celebration, a virtual Experience.

presented by the haverford trust Company and pSECU, the virtual event premiered april 21, 2021, and celebrated the hundreds of scholarship donors in 2020-2021 who provided support to ESU warriors through the gift of scholarship. “Because of the generosity of our donors, the ESU foundation has awarded 674 scholarships totaling more than $1 million to our students in 2020-2021. i’m also happy to share that 21 new scholarships were created by donors this year. these contributions are especially meaningful in a year with so much financial uncertainty,” said rich Santoro, executive director of the ESU foundation.

“where is the impact of this generosity felt? it’s in the daily lives of the ESU students who are navigating their academic journey during very difficult times and discovering they can achieve their dreams thanks to the generosity of people they don’t even know.”

interim president kenneth long also thanked donors for their continued support during such an uncertain year, stressing that while, at times, we might have felt distant from one another, we continue to come together as a community and warrior family. the foundation’s 2020 scholarship dinner was cancelled due to the pandemic but hopes are high the event will return – in person – in spring 2022.

to watch always Better together, a virtual Experience, visit esufoundation.org/2021-always-better-together.

boArd of direcTorS

Robert Willever ’75, Chairman President, Willever Wealth Management

MaryEllen Dickey ’80, Vice Chairman Chief Philanthropy Officer Da Vinci Science Center

Chris Yeager ’74 M’81, Secretary Retired Principal and School Superintendent

Robert A. Shebelsky, Treasurer Chairman, Deputy Real Estate Holdings LLC

Glenn W. Clark ’74, ESU Alumni Association Liaison President, Rockwood Programs, Inc.

Alfredo Garcia ’03, Senior Partner, Managing Director Snowden Lane Partners

Raymond Hamlin ’86, Esq. Founding Partner, Hunt, Hamlin & Ridley

Wendy Jankoski ’82 President and CIO Wealth Architects, LLC

Emily Jimenez, ESU Student Liaison Class of 2022 Douglas Leonzi ’94 Financial Advisor Trust Investment Services, Inc.

Robert Moses Retired Director of Residence Life & Housing, ESU

John J. Pekarovsky III, ’07, Council of Trustees Liaison Vice President, Community Bank NA

Elizabeth Leigh Smith, Ph.D., Faculty Liaison Professor of English, ESU

Stephen Somers Owner and President Vigon International, Inc.

Adam S. Stauffer ’00 M’02 Assistant Vice President Development & College Relations, Lafayette College

Leslie L. Wilson, ’74 Senior Vice President Workplace Initiatives Disability:IN

Eric Wyatt ’85 Chief Operating Officer Boston Market Corporation and Corner Bakery Cafe Co.

Rory Yanchek ’84 President, MTI

MeMbers eMeriti William B. Cramer, Esq. Legal Counsel and Emerita Attorney, Cramer, Swetz, McManus & Jordan, P.C. Past chair, served 1987-2001 and 2014-2019

Rosemary Driebe Olofsson Executive Vice President Pocono Pro Foods Past chair, served 1987-1999

milestone anniversary

the educational scholarshiP golf classic benefitting the Prince hall endowed scholarshiP fund at the east stroudsburg university foundation returns in 2021, this year celebrating its 30th anniversary. Themed “30 Years of Impact: Where are they now?” the legendary golf fundraiser will once again attract golfers from the region and beyond. Set for Aug. 2, 2021, at the Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort, the golf outing celebrates and benefits student scholarship awarded to ESU students who were named Prince Hall Scholars at the Prince Hall School in Philadelphia, Pa. Eighteen Prince Hall Scholars have graduated from ESU since the program began in 1988, thanks to the generosity of donors and supporters of the program. This year, the event will highlight alumni who have benefitted from the scholarship and where their ESU degree has taken them in their careers since graduation. Golf begins at 12:30 p.m. and the awards dinner at 5 p.m. Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort is located in Shawnee On Delaware, Pa.

golf and sPonsorshiP oPPortunities are available for the event. visit esufoundation.org/princehall2021 or call the ESU foundation at 570-422-3333 for more information.