Since kicking off a $100M facilities fundraising campaign 15 weeks ago, Rutgers AD Pat Hobbs "has secured financial commitments from 923 donors," and on Tuesday announced the school "has surpassed" $54M, according to Keith Sargeant of the Newark STAR-LEDGER. Hobbs said that 71 of those donors "committed over $25,000," and that the school "has received 10 gifts" of $1M or more since Jan. 20 (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 5/11). The AP's Tom Canavan noted the planned athletic facilities include the "building of a multisport training center," as well as a "lacrosse, tennis and soccer complex and enhanced football facilities at Hale Center." The training center is "the centerpiece of the three projects that was announced on Jan 20." Hobbs said that 90% of the current donations have been "earmarked toward the multisport training complex, which will be built for practice facilities for the men's and women's basketball team, wrestling and the gymnastics program" (AP, 5/10).
NEW WORLD ORDER? In New Jersey, Tara Sullivan wrote, "Welcome to the new world order of Rutgers sports, where action has replaced apathy and competency has supplanted complacency." After years of "public-relations body blows," Rutgers is "finally on the right side of this fight, moving forward in positive steps of its own making, delivering blows instead of absorbing them." Hobbs "can hit no better home run than to get his multisport practice facility up and running, to change a narrative that’s been decades in the making" (Bergen RECORD, 5/11). In Newark, Steve Politi writes "you're seeing frightening levels of competency" from those in charge at Rutgers and "finally, there is movement to take the necessary steps to fully invest in that world, and the right person out in front making it happen" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 5/11).
