April 2012 NAADD CornerThe April 2012 NAADD Corner was contributed by Whit Babcock, director of athletics at the University of Cincinnati and the 2011-12 NAADD President. 
NAADD Selects 2002-03 Awards Recipients
Award recipients include Bob Duncan (Fresno State) as the University Division Volunteer of the Year; Ralph Davis (University of Indianapolis) as the College Division Volunteer of the Year; Sandy Cupp (Radford University) as the University Division Donor of the Year; Helen Lutes (Mansfield University) as the College Division Donor of the Year; and Chris Wyrick of Vanderbilt Univesity as the Fund Raiser of the Year. Additionally, Joe Crass of the University of Memphis is the recipient of the NAADD Postgraduate Scholarship. Crass will receive a $2,000 grant to be used toward postgraduate studies. He was required to have a minimum GPA of 3.0, be a full-time senior and be planning to pursue a graduate degree in intercollegiate athletics administration with an emphasis on collegiate fund raising. Award winners will be recognized at NAADD's 10th Anniversary Workshop, June 13-16 at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida at the NACDA Directors' Cup Awards Luncheon on Sunday, June 15. NAADD is the first organization of its kind to provide educational and networking opportunities, enhancement of acceptable operating standards and ethics, and establishment of the overall prestige and understanding of the profession of athletics development and fund raising. NAADD is administered by NACDA, which is now in its 38th year. NACDA serves as the professional and educational association for more than 6,100 college athletics directors, associates, assistants and conference commissioners at more than 1,600 institutions throughout the United States, Mexico and Canada. Through its series of management seminars, clinics and workshops and publication of the bi-monthly magazine Athletics Administration, NACDA offers educational opportunities to its members. More than 1,200 athletics administrators annually attend the NACDA Convention. Additionally, the Association operates the NACDA Directors' Cup program, which honors the all-sports champion in each of the NCAA Divisions -- I, II, III -- and the NAIA, for a total of four trophies. A brief biological sketch of each of the honorees follows: University Division Volunteer of the Year Robert Duncan, Fresno State Bob Duncan's 40 years of efforts have produced the single most significant contribution to the Fresno State athletics program by a community member. He co-chaired the largest privately financed project in the history of the California State University system. He secured more than $5 million in private gifts and shared responsibility for raising more than $90 million to fund the $100 million campus events center, The Robert E. Duncan Athletics Building, the only building named after a community member, seats 16,000 for basketball. His efforts also helped fund the $5 million women's softball stadium, home to the 1998 NCAA championship-winning team. He is annually one of the top fund raisers in the Bulldog Foundation's spring fund drive and has served as the foundation's president three times. Since 1980, he has co-chaired fund drives for the football stadium, field house and University Business Center. A Fresno Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, Duncan has served on the Board of Governors and President's Advisory Board and, in 1996, was awarded an honorary doctorate. College Division Volunteer of the Year Ralph Davis, University of Indianapolis Ralph Davis' 50 years of involvement with the University of Indianapolis' athletics department has elevated him to icon status at the university. After graduating from Indiana Central (now the University of Indianapolis) in 1942, he became a successful businessman, representing A.B. Dick Company of Indianapolis for more than 30 years, retiring in 1985. Davis is an inaugural member of the Greyhound Club and has served as its president. He established the alumni Coach of the Year awards, honoring success in coaching. He is the committee chair, responsible for the coordination and preparation of the awards. Davis provides a vital link between the university and its alumni, often finding needed equipment or jobs for graduates. The founder of the Greyhound Club Golf Outing was inducted into the University of Indianapolis' Athletics Hall of Fame. University Division Donor of the Year Sandra Cupp, Owner, BCR Real Estate & Property Management, Radford University Sandra Cupp and her late husband, Patrick Cupp, have always been committed to advancing the community where they live, and have been instrumental to the development of athletics programs at both Radford University and Virginia Tech. Their charitable contributions have impacted numerous civic and educational programs and endeavors. This past year, Sandra completed the largest gift in the history of Radford athletics. The $1,000,000 contribution was used to name the University's new track and soccer stadium in memory of her late husband, who tragically died in an automobile accident. The Patrick D. Cupp Memorial Stadium was made possible through a cash and property donation and will be used to endow men's and women's track scholarships. Although athletics has been the primary beneficiary of the Cupp's generosity, areas such as the Arts, the College of Business and Economics and the Annual Fund have been generously supported at Radford by the Cupp family. College Division Donor of the Year Helen Lutes, Mansfield University After working at Mansfield University from 1946-74 as a Department Chair for Health, Physical Education & Recreation, Helen Lutes, 94, is now retired from being both a professor and a coach. Lutes and her husband, Ferris, are the only husband and wife team inducted into the MU Athletic Hall of Fame - Ferris for football and basketball, Helen for coaching. The couple's first donation to the University included $55,000 to women's athletics as the Helen Dieffenbach Lutes endowment, and another $55,000 was donated to the men's basketball program as the Ferris Lutes endowment. Lutes also established a $250,000 annuity to be ear marked for women's athletics upon her death. Recently she started an endowment for softball in the amount of $250,000, and also an endowment for field hockey with a $100,000 start-up donation. Lutes is known for her generosity, often times writing checks for $10,000 to help with a scholarship or $5,000 to buy a needed storage building. Fund Raiser of the Year Chris Wyrick, Vanderbilt University Chris Wyrick has impacted the giving levels of donors in the three schools he has worked for, benefiting student-athletes in profound ways. At North Carolina State, Wyrick helped establish a greater scope of annual giving through the successful representative system. He guided a campaign for scholarship endowment which surpassed its goal of $80 million. At Miami University, he increased the annual giving base by 25 percent and received the second largest gift in the athletic department's history. Only two and a half years into a $90 million athletics fund-raising campaign at Vanderbilt, Wyrick has already raised $63 million for projects including an addition to Memorial Gymnasium; a baseball stadium; soccer/lacrosse stadium; football practice complex; football weight room expansion; track and field complex; purchase of a golf course; and the first endowed head football coach's chair in the Southeastern Conference. In addition, Wyrick has secured funding for an expanded Academic Support Center, golf practice complex, football Hall of Fame area and an upgraded lobby and reception area. Postgraduate Scholarship Recipient Joe Crass, University of Memphis, Division I Joe Crass graduated from the University of Memphis with a 3.04 GPA and a degree in marketing management. The baseball team captain was named to the Conference USA Commissioner's Honor Roll six times. He was involved in the team's marketing/recruiting campaign. The Avon Fogelman Scholarship winner received the 2001 Tiger Spirit Award after participating in such activities as emceeing the Tiger Athlete Back to School Orientation event and Tiger Baseball Home Run Derby and Alumni Game. Crass also represented his team by speaking to the members of the Tiger Bull Pen and the community of Memphis on the 2002 season ticket fund-raising drive. He was the project director for the Tiger POWER Program, officer on the Student-Athlete Advisory Council, director of special events for the Life Skills Office and was involved in the Emerging Leader Program. He was also involved in marketing research for Major League Baseball's 2000 All-Star Game. Crass plans to attend graduate school in the fall, concentrating in finance.
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