Nov. 21, 2014
UCF Athletics Social Media Directory
Story by Andy Seeley; Video by Chip Fontanazza - UCFKnights.com
Photo Gallery
ORLANDO - Friday night's groundbreaking ceremony for the Wayne Densch Center for Student-Athlete Leadership was an emotional event for many involved. Among the most powerful emotions displayed were pride and gratitude.
All those connected to the project and UCF are proud the Knights are national leaders in the area of the holistic development of student-athletes. Of course, there was also plenty of thanks to go around as well. Bob and Carol Garvy and Leonard and Marjorie Williams and their families were responsible for three different seven-figure gifts toward the funding of the project. Both families were recognized and thanked at the event.
UCF President Dr. John Hitt, UCF Foundation CEO Bob Holmes, UCF Vice President and Director of Athletics Todd Stansbury were all present to give remarks. All three recognized the Garvy and Williams families, while also making sure to thank all the other donors who were involved in raising funds for the project.
But the greatest emotion - and the greatest sense of pride and gratitude - came from the final speakers of the evening's program. Two of UCF's Everyday Champion student-athletes. Former men's soccer player and current UCF medical student Kyle Cox and current rowing student assistant coach Kali Mills both spoke about the influence UCF Athletics has had on their lives.
Mills, who had her rowing career cut short due to an injury during her UCF career, was visibly emotional as she talked about how her experience at UCF helped get her through the challenge of losing something so important to her.
Unfortunately, some of our journeys in athletics are shorter than others, Mills said, wiping away a tear. Playing a sport is not forever. Being a leader and individual is. Instead of being lost without athletics when my time was cut short, I felt utterly ready to take on different roles and felt confident that I would be able to take care of myself after graduation. If someone were to ask me if I would change anything about my college career, I would have to answer 'Absolutely not.' I am exactly where I am supposed to be because what this new building represents.
Mills showed the same sort of determination getting through the emotion of her speech that Cox displayed while chasing his two dreams in life - playing soccer for UCF and becoming a doctor. Thanks to UCF Athletics, he accomplished the first and is well on his way to the second. When others told him that the two were mutually exclusive, Cox and UCF Athletics begged to differ.
Here at UCF, we have a talent for defying odds and achieving success under any circumstances, Cox said. As an aspiring physician, this institution shared in my aspirations for success. They rallied behind me throughout my career and provided opportunity after opportunity for me to better myself as a student-athlete, as a medical school applicant, and ultimately as a physician one day.
While neither Mills nor Cox will reap the benefits of the Wayne Densch Center for Student-Athlete Leadership as current student-athletes, they know they will have the opportunity to come back and utilize the Center, network with other student-athletes and watch future generations of Knights succeed.
In providing these unprecedented opportunities to our student-athletes for personal growth, this university and its supporters again will show that UCF not only exceeds the standards, but establishes them for the rest of higher education to follow, said President Hitt.
Through our work - and ultimately through the experiences that the Wayne Densch Center for Student-Athlete Leadership will offer them - we're changing (student-athletes') focus from graduation day as the end fo their journey to realizing that it is only the beginning, Stansbury said. This new center will greatly enhance our work of teaching leadership skills and helping our student-athletes understand there's much more to their college experience … we have the opportunity to open a whole new world up for them.
The Wayne Densch Center for Student-Athlete Leadership will serve as the headquarters for personal, professional and academic development of nearly 500 Knights student-athletes. The project cost is estimated at $6 million for the three-story, 22,000-square-foot structure. The Center will house UCF's Academic Services for Student-Athletes, Student Services and Compliance departments. The building will include a multi-purpose classroom with space for up to 200 students, a computer lab, tutoring and mentoring rooms, study space and conference and resource rooms. The Center is named for Wayne Densch, in honor of the Wayne Densch Charitable Trust's $4 million gift to the project.