ABILENE, Texas – In honor of McMurry University's 450 scholar-athletes, Vice President for Student Affairs and Intercollegiate Athletics Sam Ferguson announced the "Gifts for GRIT" campaign on Wednesday.
"Gifts for GRIT" represents the Gratitude, Resilience, Initiative and Tenacity shown by McMurry's scholar-athletes through the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
"Our scholar-athletes have handled the year 2020 like champions," Ferguson said. "They have kept an appropriate perspective and have shown a passion and perseverance that has made us proud. Our War Hawks Community has demonstrated enormous GRIT in a difficult season. We're excited to offer our alumni and friends an opportunity to honor these special men and women, while also contributing to their life-transforming experience."
In this season of giving, McMurry Athletics is encouraging alumni and friends to join the athletics community in recognizing its scholar-athletes with a "Gift for GRIT." McMurry has set a lofty goal of 450 gifts, honoring each of the scholar-athletes who represent McMurry. Giving levels include:
- Gratitude: A gift of $1,000
- Resilience: A gift of $750
- Initiative: A gift of $500
- Tenacity: A gift of $250
- Other: A gift amount of the donor's choice
The War Hawks athletics staff has already supported this initiative at a high level, as coaches and administrators are stepping up to acknowledge the Gratitude, Resilience, Initiative, and Tenacity of McMurry scholar-athletes. Before the campaign was officially announced, 87 percent of the department's head coaches and 75 percent of the entire department's staff had already made a gift to honor the scholar-athletes.
"It's amazing how our staff has responded to this opportunity," Ferguson explained. "We discussed this idea in our staff meeting last week, and the next thing I know there is a long email thread of coaches and support staff eager to contribute. In fact, we've even received pledges from young children of our staff wishing to honor our scholar-athletes with their gift for GRIT. The last few days have been a nice reminder of the incredible community we have here at McMurry!"
To honor a scholar-athlete with your "Gift for GRIT," visit join.mcm.edu/grit or contact McMurry Athletics at 325-793-4631.
