Lehigh Athletics Community Sets Another All-Time Record With March Mania Giving Challenge

Lehigh Athletics' March Mania Giving Challenge, having just completed its fifth year, produced another all-time record in financial support to the Athletics Department and it programs. Conducted from March 26 through April 2, March Mania generated 1,354 donations from alumni, staff, parents, friends, and current student-athletes totaling $539,967.

The March Mania campaign served as a springboard for the Lehigh Athletics Department's annual fundraising effort. The department now stands at $1.7M against an overall fundraising goal of $2.5M for the year, which ends on June 30.

"The Lehigh community is so incredibly supportive of everything we do," said Bill Griffin '79, Senior Associate Director of Athletics for External Relations & Advancement. "Their loyalty and generosity is amazing. Their support provides us with the financial fuel we need to be competitive with our league opponents and beyond and provide an athletics experience that will forever impact our student-athletes.

The support for March Mania has been climbing every year, as noted in the chart below.

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Like last year, this year's competition was organized by "divisions" and was entirely participation-based. The sports that achieved the highest percentage of participation by division were:

                                    Men's Sports:
                                    Packer Division                                       Men's Lacrosse
                                    Grace Division                                         Men's Basketball

                                    Women's Sports:
                                    Taylor Division                                         Women's Basketball
                                    Goodman Division                                 Women's Field Hockey

                                    Mixed-Gender Sports:
                                    Linderman Division                                Swimming & Diving

                                    Overall Participation Leader:               Women's Basketball

If you would like to review the final results in more detail, please click on the March Mania Giving Site or the March Mania Scoreboard.

Women's Basketball repeated as the overall participation champion. "I am continually impressed by our group of women's basketball alumnae for their support and generosity to our women's basketball program and department," said head women's basketball coach Sue Troyan. "Their willingness to 'pay it forward' to our program plays an important role in helping us compete with a high level of consistency and success in a highly competitive environment. Each year, our alumnae are driven to raise the bar by setting new standards within the March Mania Challenge. To have over 40% of our alumnae base give to the combined March Mania/Giving Day challenge speaks volumes about their leadership and support, as they demonstrate a strong understanding for the impact they continue to make upon our athletics community."

All donations funnel as designated by the donor to either the Lehigh Athletics Partnership Fund or to any of the sport-specific or program-specific funds that are in place at Lehigh, including intramurals, club sports, the Fitness Center and its programs. They enable Lehigh to conduct a broad range of recreational, fitness, and highly competitive sports programs.

"I want to express my sincere gratitude to our Athletics Partnership team, our many volunteers, and our friends within the Lehigh Development office. They really dedicated themselves to this effort," said Bill Griffin. "They create the energy and enthusiasm for all that we accomplish." The Athletics Partnership team members are listed below.

"I also want to express how proud I am of all of our current student-athletes. They really rose to the occasion, participating in March Mania at an extremely high level. Our student-athletes understand that their athletics experience is a direct result of the loyalty and generosity of so many….and they want to express their gratitude by demonstrating that they are "ALL IN" as well."

"The excitement this year around our March Mania campaign was inspiring and affirming, said Dean of Athletics Joe Sterrett '76. "The increased level of giving by so many of our alumni and friends reflects your understanding of what it takes to deliver a high quality educational and competitive experience as well as an appreciation of the role philanthropy plays in achieving those outcomes. On behalf of our staff and our student athletes, I want to thank everyone who chose to be involved in March Mania this year! And, just as there is still room for higher levels of achievement from our teams, there is also room for growing our gift numbers and dollars raised. Annual giving is and will remain the differentiation between "good" outcomes and "distinctive" outcomes. I extend to all those who did not participate in March Mania my encouragement and hope that you will choose to join with our Athletics Partnership team in the effort to generate the funds that produce at championship levels the development of character, leadership and performance in all of our athletes and teams."

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The Lehigh Athletics Partnership team is comprised of the following individuals:

Bill Griffin	Team Leader wpg207@lehigh.edu (610) 758-4301	Unrestricted Athletics Partnership Fund Men's Basketball
Harrison Lawrence	Partnership Rep. hal214@lehigh.edu (610) 758-6499	Football Wrestling Men's Lacrosse
Mike Garzillo	Partnership Rep. mag316@lehigh.edu (610) 758-6574	Men's Soccer Women's Soccer Cross Country, Track & Field Baseball Men's Golf
Roseann Corsi	Partnership Rep. rz00@lehigh.edu (610) 758-6309	Volleyball Women's Basketball Softball Women's Lacrosse
Kristen Brannick	Partnership Rep. kjl316@lehigh.edu (610) 758-5062	Field Hockey Swimming & Diving Rowing Men's Tennis Women's Tennis Women's Golf
Lisa Landis	Technical Assistant lcd297@lehigh.edu (610) 758-6855	Systems Support Gift Processing Communications & Event Mgmt.
Joe Gnall	Director of Development jdg699@lehigh.edu (610) 758-2835	Leadership Gifts Multi-Year Commitments
Josh Hand	Asst. Director of Development jlh416@lehigh.edu (610) 7582743	Middle-Tier Gifts Multi-Year Commitments

To make a gift in support of Lehigh Athletics, please go to: mylehigh.lehigh.edu/varsitysports

Lehigh University Athletics

Lehigh Athletics Community Sets Another All-Time Record With March Mania Giving Challenge

Players Mentioned

Mike Garzillo

Harrison Lawrence

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