SYRACUSE — The first phase of construction to turn Manley Field House into the John A. Lally Athletics Complex on Syracuse University’s South campus began in March. The effort includes a new entryway and student-athlete academic-support area, Syracuse said in a July 19 announcement about its 2021-22 fundraising effort. The upcoming complex will support student […]
SYRACUSE — The first phase of construction to turn Manley Field House into the John A. Lally Athletics Complex on Syracuse University’s South campus began in March.
The effort includes a new entryway and student-athlete academic-support area, Syracuse said in a July 19 announcement about its 2021-22 fundraising effort.
The upcoming complex will support student needs with private in-person meeting areas for expanded tutorial appointments and academic advising, as well as career and life-skills programming, the university said.
Available to all student-athletes, the expanded academic-support facility will house private rooms for student-athletes to use for completing assignments or studying between classes.
The ‘Cuse Athletics Fund (‘CAF) continues to fundraise for future phases of the project. Syracuse University said it will announce additional enhancements to the facility, which was known as Manley Field House for nearly 60 years, as it secures new donations.
“The Lally Athletics Complex is a game changing project for recruiting and holistically developing our student-athletes,” Syracuse Director of Athletics John Wildhack contended. “The leadership and support from Legends Society donors this past year is inspiring, and we look forward to building upon the momentum as we continue fundraising for the complex.”
Fundraising effort
Syracuse University provided the update on the construction process of the Lally Athletics Complex in a July 19 announcement detailing the school’s second-best year of fundraising.
The ‘CAF recorded its second-highest fundraising year during the 2021-22 fiscal year that concluded on June 30.
More than 9,700 donors contributed $29.1 million, which was a 52 percent increase in funds from the previous year and the second-largest number of donors to Syracuse Athletics, the school said.
This year’s total amount raised was only exceeded in 2019, when John and Laura Lally made a $25 million lead commitment to support turning Manley Field House into the new John A. Lally Athletics Complex.
Donations to the ‘CAF encompass all areas supporting Syracuse Athletics, including annual giving to the Athletics Opportunity Fund, support to individual sports teams, priority seating, and Legends Society commitments to the John A. Lally Athletics Complex.
Plenty of people and families contributed to the successful fundraising year, Syracuse said.
The ‘CAF Legends Society received more than $14 million in commitments and surpassed 125 total donors making multi-year philanthropic donations. Legends Society commitments are above and beyond seating requirements and are separate from ‘Cuse Athletics Fund (‘CAF) annual membership levels, the university noted.
The donations are used to support the construction of the John A. Lally Athletics Complex, which Syracuse believes will “enhance experiences” across all 20 sports and benefit more than 600 student-athletes.