Cougar Athletic Fund Donors Lift Up Student Athletes
When Nick Rolovich was relieved of his duties as head football coach on Monday, it inspired strong reactions from across the WSU community and the nation. But it also inspired the generosity of a large number of Cougs. Many people took to social media to show their donations to the Cougar Athletic Fund. For donors like Jennifer Dickinson, it was all about making sure the student athletes feel supported.
“I wanted to show support for the school, and I particularly wanted to show support for the student athletes because they’re the ones who get the short end of the stick in all this,” she said.
Rob Larsen, a football season ticket holder, reached out on Twitter and said that he donated because he felt the WSU community needed to step up and support the student athletes, and he hopes his donation will find “the proper face for the global research institution that the coach represents.”
Fellow donor Kellen Harris used social media to inspire others to give to the athletic fund.
“Showing that I still support the students and the athletic scholarships and the athletic program I think was important. And just trying to put that out on social media so that a lot of the other Cougar Twitter that I interact with sees that and hopefully other people will rally around that and support it,” he said.
CAF donors have taken their negative feelings towards the Rolovich situation and put that energy towards building a new indoor practice facility to replace the current one.
Dickinson chose to donate towards a new IPF because it helps more than just the football team.
“I’ve never donated to something like a facility, so I just thought when I was looking at the CAF, and that was one of the choices, I just thought that would be a really good choice because it covers football players and student athletes from other sports,” she said.
However much uncertainty there is around the football program, student athletes can certainly count on the WSU community to lift them up when they need it the most.
