The University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Recreational Sports announced Thursday a $2 million endowment available to sports clubs on campus.
The endowment is in place to provide financial support to the 42 student-led sport clubs on campus, according to a statement released by Rec Sports. The fund is open to contribution from anyone, including UW-Madison alumni, parents and friends of the university.
The division announced the anonymous $2 million donation at the Sport Clubs Banquet Wednesday night, an unprecedented amount put forth into the fund.
“In the 17 years that I’ve been in this field I’ve never heard of an endowment for a sport club program like this anywhere in the country,” Director of Rec Sports John Horn said.
A certain percentage of the endowment is available for clubs each year, according to Horn. Among a variety of areas the fund supports are operations, uniforms and travel fees for the clubs.
Horn added the money put forth into the endowment grows as interest grows, meaning the financial resource should be available long-term.
Although the donation does not affect funding of the Rec Sports Master Plan, Horn said the division is making efforts to contribute to the endowment itself to ensure the longevity of the resource to sports clubs.
“It’s such an unbelievable gift for these students here to be able to rely on this funding year in and year out,” Horn said.
