Record Gift to GU Athletics & IAC

[RusskyHoya]

This appears as a blurb in this morning's Washington Post:

Georgetown is expected to announce the biggest gift to its athletics department in the program's history Friday, a $5 million donation from Edward Shaw, a 1966 Georgetown graduate, and his wife, Irene.

Of the total, the Shaws have directed $4 million toward construction of the Intercollegiate Athletics Center, a 144,000 square-foot complex that will house practice gyms, an academic center, space for sports-medicine and strength and conditioning programs and additional locker rooms.

It's scheduled to be built next to McDonough Arena and, when completed, will be the first new athletic facility built on the Hilltop in more than 60 years.

- Liz Clarke

[HoyaNyr320]

Jan 11, 2013 9:34:02 GMT -5 RusskyHoya said:

This appears as a blurb in this morning's Washington Post:

Georgetown is expected to announce the biggest gift to its athletics department in the program's history Friday, a $5 million donation from Edward Shaw, a 1966 Georgetown graduate, and his wife, Irene.

Of the total, the Shaws have directed $4 million toward construction of the Intercollegiate Athletics Center, a 144,000 square-foot complex that will hose practice gyms, an academic center, space for sports-medicine and strength and conditioning programs and additional locker rooms.

It's scheduled to be built next to McDonough Arena and, when completed, will be the first new athletic facility build on the Hilltop in more than 60 years.

- Liz Clarke

Biggest win of the season so far!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Shaw!

[HoyasAreHungry]

Awesome! Many thanks to the Shaws!

(That's really a record donation to the athletics dept though? Hate to be a downer but was anyone else thinking at least 10-20 mil when they read "record" donation? )

Would love to know where this gets us in the fundraising effort. How close are we to breaking ground now?

[DoctorHoya]

That's awesome!!!

[DoctorHoya]

Btw the building is estimated to cost $60 million so this is 1/12th of the total cost plus whatever else has been raised. I feel like I read that half ($30 million) was needed to begin construction but I'm not sure. Anyone know 100 percent?

[rosslynhoya]

Jan 11, 2013 10:01:01 GMT -5 DoctorHoya said:

Btw the building is estimated to cost $60 million so this is 1/12th of the total cost plus whatever else has been raised. I feel like I read that half ($30 million) was needed to begin construction but I'm not sure. Anyone know 100 percent?

IIRC, Jack has said that the entire amount needs to be pledged and at least half the pledges need to have translated into cash in hand before he'll break ground.

I'm also pretty sure the latest estimates for the IAC were closer to $80 million.

[DoctorHoya]

www.thehoya.com/mobile/georgetown-announces-iac-plans-1.2882154

[ColumbiaHeightsHoya]

With borrowing costs so low, I don't understand why 30mm in hand wouldn't be enough to get going. Maybe this big donation will help fuel the fire with other big donors though.

[washingtonhoya]

Jan 11, 2013 9:34:02 GMT -5 RusskyHoya said:

It's scheduled to be built next to McDonough Arena and, when completed, will be the first new athletic facility build on the Hilltop in more than 60 years.

Paging DFW to the white courtesy phone, DFW to the white courtesy phone please...

[hoyainspirit]

Jan 11, 2013 10:22:25 GMT -5 ColumbiaHeightsHoya said:

With borrowing costs so low, I don't understand why 30mm in hand wouldn't be enough to get going. Maybe this big donation will help fuel the fire with other big donors though.

While I understand that Georgetown's financial position is somewhat compromised by past decisions, low borrowing cost is a compelling argument if the school has the capacity to borrow.

[HoyasAreHungry]

Hopefully hoyatables can weigh in on this

[RusskyHoya]

Georgetown is already borrowing tons and tons of money constantly. It's not the world's best habit to get into, but we can borrow at criminally low interest rates in many cases, so I can't honestly say that it's not the right thing to do under current conditions. I'm not sure that we could take on an extra $30 million in debt though - not at advantageous rates, anyway.

Here is the press release:

Jan. 11, 2013

WASHINGTON - Georgetown University's Department of Athletics has received its largest gift ever, a $5 million commitment from Edward (C'66) and Irene Shaw.

The Shaws intend to direct $4 million of their gift to the construction of the Intercollegiate Athletics Center, a new facility that will provide Georgetown's 750 student-athletes with practice gymnasiums, an academic center, and spaces for strength and conditioning, sports medicine and additional locker rooms. The 144,000-square-foot building will be the first new athletics facility on campus in more than 60 years.

The remaining $1 million of the Shaws' gift will fund upgrades to the on-campus field on which Georgetown's nationally ranked men's and women's soccer programs practice and play.

In recognition of the Shaws' $5 million commitment, the field will be named Shaw Field as a permanent recognition of the couple's longtime support of soccer at Georgetown. A previous gift from the Shaws was instrumental in elevating women's soccer from a club sport to varsity level.

"Georgetown is deeply grateful to Ed and Irene for their many contributions to our community throughout the years and for their ongoing commitment to our Athletics programs," President John J. DeGioia said. "As a university in the Catholic and Jesuit tradition, we are committed to the `care of the whole person'--to providing our students with the resources necessary for becoming their very best selves. Athletics are one of the most significant ways in which we can provide this support."

"The tremendous generosity of Ed and Irene Shaw is unmatched in the history of Georgetown Athletics," said Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Lee Reed. "Their support of women's soccer, going back now almost two decades, all but literally created the program. This gift will both promote that team's continued competitiveness and--with its support of the IAC, which will benefit every athlete and program at Georgetown--will have a dramatic and lasting impact on Georgetown athletics more broadly."

"Irene and I have always been firm believers in the value of intercollegiate athletics to gather our community, build school spirit and enhance the undergraduate experience--not only the team members but also for their classmates and friends," Shaw said. "Our commitment reinforces this belief, along with the value of nationally competitive programs to enhance Georgetown University for now and years to come."

Edward Shaw spent his career in both private law practice and as a corporate general counsel, and is currently a board member of a number of public entities and nonprofit organizations. Both he and Irene have served multiple terms on the university's Board of Regents, with Ed serving as the chair of the Athletics Committee. In 2012, he received the John Carroll Award, the Georgetown Alumni Association's highest honor.

The Shaws are parents of five children--Hope (C'94), Holly (C'98), Julia (C'98), Christopher and Rory. They also have three sons-in-law and one daughter-in-law who graduated from Georgetown. The Shaws reside in Greenwich, Conn., and North Palm Beach, Fla.

Following the successful completion of the Hariri building, the new home for the McDonough School of Business, and Regents Hall, the new main campus science center, the IAC is the largest single facilities goal in the university's $1.5 billion fundraising campaign, For Generations to Come. Athletics' campaign goal is $125 million. The Shaws' gift brings athletics' campaign total to more than $60 million.

[DallasHoya]

Given my experience with the GU Athletic Department over the past 35 years, I believe that there is a zero chance that the IAC will be built and completed in the next 20 years.

[DoctorHoya]

Jan 11, 2013 11:37:05 GMT -5 DallasHoya said:

Given my experience with the GU Athletic Department over the past 35 years, I believe that there is a zero chance that the IAC will be built and completed in the next 20 years.

I hope you're wrong...

[RusskyHoya]

Jan 11, 2013 11:37:05 GMT -5 DallasHoya said:

Given my experience with the GU Athletic Department over the past 35 years, I believe that there is a zero chance that the IAC will be built and completed in the next 20 years.

I wouldn't be so pessimistic. Along with the New South Student Center build-out, which is a much smaller project, the IAC is now the University's #1 priority capital/construction project (I'm not counting things like the Calcagnini Contemplative Center and Georgetown Downtown because construction and build-out are already underway). That has never been the case with an athletics project before, at least not since the original construction of McDonough. It also was not a sure thing - Lauinger will remain its craptastic current self for another decade because of it, something that many are none too happy about. But when something is #1 on the list, the University's reputation is staked on it getting done, and so it will be. Not as quickly as we would like, perhaps, but it'll happen.

[DallasHoya]

So do I, but I have seen no evidence to justify that hope on any level. If we couldn't (or wouldn't even try to) do it when we had the #1 program in the country, why now?

[nychoya3]

That's silly. ZERO chance? You place zero percent odds that we won't build a facility that is designed and half funded?

The University has built a ton of new buildings in the last ten years. This one is high on the priority list. It will happen. The MSF on the other hand...

Jan 11, 2013 11:37:05 GMT -5 DallasHoya said:

Given my experience with the GU Athletic Department over the past 35 years, I believe that there is a zero chance that the IAC will be built and completed in the next 20 years.

[Nevada Hoya]

I have to give a shout out to Ed Shaw of my class of 1966. Ed was a member of the golf team, when he was a student. Very nice guy and academically talented.

[SFHoya99]

Jan 11, 2013 11:51:43 GMT -5 DallasHoya said:

So do I, but I have seen no evidence to justify that hope on any level. If we couldn't (or wouldn't even try to) do it when we had the #1 program in the country, why now?

Because things are different.

1) Georgetown was not nearly into fundraising at that time period. The University was still somewhat locked into the past -- it wasn't until the late 90s that they even realized that they should be fundraising for the endowment.

2) There's been a huge escalation in the importance of facilities in recruiting in all sports, period. While I'm sure JT, Jr. wanted better digs in 1985, the need for it was much less.

3) We're about to lose the Big East and the facilities are a key part of keeping the program significant. There were no concerns about that in 1985, aside from keeping JT, Jr.

While I can not guarantee Georgetown will execute -- because trusting the University on that is insane, as you point out -- the sense of urgency over a practice facility is SO much larger now than before.

Plus, the overall athletics fundraising is now at 50% raised according to that email and they still haven't gotten or announced a truly monster gift. It's possible Ted and some of the bigger GU names aren't going to drop $10M plus, but there's also a chance there's a good shot to get the money.

Once the money comes in, it'll get executed. This is not football and it's not crew.

The importance to the school is much closer to the business school.

[fsohoya]

Incredible how quickly good news turns to doom and gloom around here! Thanks for the donation, Shaws, and thanks for quite possibly showing others that the donation train is moving and it's time to get on board.