Gift Provides Funding for Synthetic Turf Field
$3.7 Million Bequeath Also Covers Weight Room Expansion
August 4, 2008
TOWSON, Md. - A portion of a $3.7 million gift to Goucher College will be used to install a synthetic turf system and lights at Beldon Field and expand the weight room and cardio-fitness spaces in the Sports & Recreation Center.
In addition to improving the institution's athletic facilities,
the gift will also help complete the Athenaeum, the new centerpiece
building on campus, and to fund other college priorities, according
to President Sanford J. Ungar. To honor the Deckers and their
generous bequest, Ungar also revealed today that two facilities on
campus will be named for them - the Virginia and Alonzo Decker Jr.
Sports and Recreation Center and the Virginia and Alonzo Decker Jr.
Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology.
"Virginia and Alonzo Decker were well known on the Goucher campus,
and this generous gift will ensure that their names will be
remembered here for generations to come," said Ungar. "The Deckers
had great passion and respect for higher education. They knew that
a liberal arts education like the one offered at Goucher can change
lives."
The Deckers were longtime supporters of Goucher. Virginia Decker
enrolled in continuing-education courses at the college. Alonzo
Decker, chief executive officer of The Black & Decker
Manufacturing Company, was awarded an honorary doctor of science
degree from Goucher in 1985, and he was honorary chair of Goucher's
Legacy Campaign from 1994 to 1998. He died in 2002, and his wife
passed away last April.
The Decker gift comes as Goucher is in the midst of "Transcending
Boundaries: The Campaign for Goucher College," which aims to raise
$80 million by 2010.
Upgrading the college's athletic facilities is one of the
priorities of the Goucher capital campaign, and a portion of the
Decker gift will be used to install a turf field and lights and to
expand the weight room and cardio-fitness spaces. Other athletic
initiatives still to be funded include improvements to the
equestrian clinic and team pavilion and the installation of
permanent seating for the tennis courts.
According to Geoff Miller, director of physical education and
athletics at Goucher, the growth in the college's outdoor programs
has placed unprecedented demands on the field spaces available to
students, making it necessary to add a turf field.
"The beauty of a turf field is that it gives us the ability to
practice and play in any weather," said Miller. "And because of its
size, we can have more than one team practicing on the new turf
field at the same time. Particularly because we are adding
lighting, we can also expand the intramural program, which benefits
the entire Goucher community."
The durability of the new all-weather turf field will reduce the
number of practice sessions lost to inclement weather, and it will
save money for the college because maintenance costs will be lower
and Goucher will no longer need to rent turf-field time at other
institutions.
Both soccer teams will continue to play games on Beldon Field.
The field hockey team, which currently calls Gopher Stadium its
home field, will play most if not all of its intercollegiate
contests at Beldon Field once the synthetic turf system is
installed, and both lacrosse programs will have the option of
moving games to the turf when weather makes the grass field of
Gopher Stadium unplayable.
Part of the Decker gift will also be used to enhance the Center
for Teaching, Learning, and Technology (CTLT), which will be
relocated to the new Goucher College Athenaeum, scheduled for
completion in fall 2009. The CTLT provides an interactive
environment where faculty, students, and staff can explore new
technologies.
"The Decker gift helps us move forward in positioning Goucher as a
leader among the nation's liberal arts institutions," said Ungar.
"With the establishment of the Decker Sports and Recreation Center
and the Decker Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology, the
legacy of this extraordinary couple will live on at Goucher."
A Baltimore native, Alonzo Decker was the son of Black &
Decker's co-founder. He began working at his father's company at
age 14. He eventually received a degree in electrical engineering
from Cornell University and worked his way up in the company,
ultimately being named chief executive officer. He married Virginia
Gent in 1948, and together the couple became champions of higher
education and philanthropy. Virginia Decker was frequently seen
walking the Loop Road, along with many other neighbors, on
Goucher's picturesque Towson campus.