Hurricane Club Closes 2014 on a High Note
Behind its award-winning #BuildingChampions campaign, the University of Miami’s Hurricane Club has surpassed its three year membership goal in just two years. The Hurricane Club set another all-time membership record, with more than 8,000 active members—having grown over 83% since 2010.
“On behalf of the entire athletics department, I want to thank all who believe in the mission of Hurricanes Athletics and who support our student-athletes in their desire to compete at the highest level and earn their degree at an elite academic institution,” said Director of Athletics Blake James. “This year, through the generosity of 8,000 Hurricane Club members, we have built new facilities, enhanced current facilities and made the student-athlete experience at the University of Miami truly first class.”
The Hurricane Club’s 8,000 members also helped reach another important milestone in 2014, raising $9.8 million in annual support for the Student-Athlete Excellence Fund. This is a $1 million increase from 2013.The Student-Athlete Excellence Fund provides the funding for scholarships, facility improvements and operational support needed to achieve excellence in 18 varsity sports.
“The growth of our Hurricane Club is essential to the long term success of every aspect of Hurricane Athletics,” said Associate Athletics Director for Development Jesse Marks. “Thank you to all Hurricane Club members for their generosity in giving all of our student-athletes the resources to be better students, better athletes, and better people.”
The Hurricane Club also continued to improve and build new facilities and scholarship endowments for our student-athletes. 2014 was one of our most successful years with the start and/or completion of the following projects:
-Launch of the Football Victory Fund that completely overhauled the football practice fields and installed a new artificial turf for Hurricanes Football
-Opening of the brand new Student-Athlete Training Table Dining Hall that benefits all 400+ Hurricane student-athletes
-Installation of new $1.5 million scoreboard (funded by FMSbonds, Inc.) at the BankUnited Center
-Beginning construction on the Women’s Golf Practice Facility at the historic Biltmore Hotel, the new home for Hurricanes Golf
-$1.5 million contribution from former football student-athlete Ken Hunt to endow the Running Back Position for Hurricane Football
– Largest gift ever in support of Women’s Athletics to provide two full scholarships for four years to women’s basketball student-athletes
All of 2014’s gifts to the Hurricane Club are a part of the campus-wide $1.6 billion Momentum2 Campaign. UM Athletics has currently raised over $102 million toward its $125 million goal (over 80% to goal).
To learn more about University of Miami Athletics giving opportunities, please visit uhurricaneclub.com
