Endowment Donor Appreciation Luncheon Program (PDF)

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2019 UNION SOUTH | VARSITY HALL Welcome to our Annual Endowment Donor Appreciation Luncheon On behalf of our student-athletes, coaches and staff, I would like to thank you for your support of Wisconsin Athletics. Each year during the fall we celebrate the most important component of our Athletic Department -- the education of our student- athletes. Providing the opportunity for a student-athlete to receive an education from a world class institution like ours and compete at the highest level of intercollegiate athletics is our top priority. This past season gave us a lot of moments to show off our pride. Our football team won the Pinstripe Bowl – our fifth-consecutive bowl win, the longest streak in Big Ten history. Our women’s hockey team brought home its fifth national championship. The men’s basketball team went dancing again and both the volleyball and women’s soccer teams reached the Sweet 16. Those are just a few of the highlights. All told, 17 teams competed in the postseason this year and we finished 16th in the Learfield Directors’ Cup, equaling our highest finish in the last 25 years. Individually, 2018-19 was a banner year: Beata Nelson was the National Swimmer of the Year and won three national championships. Morgan McDonald turned in a nearly unprecedented trifecta of winning a national championship in cross country as well as indoor and outdoor track. Alicia Monson was also a track national champion. Jonathan Taylor, D’Cota Dixon and Ethan Happ all claimed national awards and overall, we boasted 37 All-Americans. Our student-athletes excelled in the classroom just as much as in competition, boasting a cumulative grade point average over 3.1 at the end of the spring semester. A total of 352 student-athletes were named to the Dean’s, Dean’s Honor or Dean’s High Honor lists and a school-record 317 Badgers earned Academic All-Big Ten honors. Nine of our teams recorded a perfect single-year APR score. Today we will hear from Brad Davison, a member of the Men’s Basketball program and a leader among our Badger student-athletes. Brad, a junior, is pursuing a degree in Business Management and Human Resources. He not only has solidified himself as a valuable member of the team through his performance, but also in our community with his participation in our Badgers Give Back program. It’s a joy for me to see student-athletes like Brad embody what it is to be a student-athlete at the University of Wisconsin. Like Brad, there are many student-athletes who have been provided an opportunity to achieve at the highest-level thanks in part to earning a scholarship. The Wisconsin Athletics endowment has grown to one of the largest in the Big Ten Conference. By impacting the lives of those who wear the Badger uniform, we take pride in knowing your investment in endowed funds will continue the future success and traditions of the University of Wisconsin. Thank you for all of your support. Sincerely, Director of Athletics 20th Annual Forever Badgers endowment donor appreciation luncheon Friday, September 27, 2019 Welcome ................................................................Matt Lepay | Voice of the Badgers Donor Reflection ��Dan Rashke Student-Athlete Reflection ��Brad Davison Dan Rashke is Chief Executive Officer and second-generation owner of TASC (Total Administrative Services Corporation), the nation’s largest privately held third-party administrator of tax-advantaged employee benefits. He is a recognized thought leader on entrepreneurship, innovation, business growth, and strategic corporate philanthropy. With Dan at the helm, TASC has grown to more than 1,000 employees; produces an annual economic value exceeding $100 million; and serves 80,000 clients across the country, ranging from sole proprietors up to the 8 million employees and retirees of the federal government. With its new Universal Benefit Account™ platform, TASC is on the verge of disrupting the benefits industry. Dan and his wife Patti founded The Greater Give, a nonprofit organization founded to compel more giving by cultivating a movement of shared responsibility in the workplace. The Greater Give is advocating for The Everyday Philanthropist Act, a bipartisan bill that would enable pre-tax workplace giving. Dan serves on the board for State Bank of Cross Plains, Wall Family Enterprise, and the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce. He has been recognized as the 2019 Large Company Executive of the Year by Madison’s In Business Magazine, and as the Outstanding Individual Philanthropist by the Association of Fundraising Professionals Greater Madison Chapter in November 2018. In 2015, Dan and Patti established the Dan and Patti Rashke (TASC) Family Foundation Fund, in support of Wisconsin Men’s Basketball. The 2019 recipient of their scholarship is Brad Davison. BRAD DAVISON has had a profound impact at the University of Wisconsin since stepping on campus in the summer of 2017. In just over two years, Davison has become a leader both on and off the court for the men’s basketball team and a staple in the community through the athletic department’s Badgers Give Back initiatives. As a freshman in 2018, Davison started the final 29 games of the season despite injuring his shoulder in six different games. Not only did he play, he thrived, ranking second on the team averaging 12.1 point per game and setting UW freshman records for free throw percentage (.818) and 3-point field goals (60). A 2018 Big Ten All-Freshman Team selection, Davison became just the fourth Badger over the last 20 years to average double figures in his freshman season, joining Ethan Happ (2016), Alando Tucker (2003) and Devin Harris (2002). As a sophomore, Davison averaged 10.5 points per game in 34 starts, while helping lead the Badgers back the NCAA tournament. A standout in the classroom and community as well, Davison is majoring in business management and human resources. He earned academic All-Big Ten honors in 2019 and consistently ranks among the athletic department leaders in community service hours. Davison comes from a talented family, including his two older sisters, Stephanie and Angie, who both played on the Northern Iowa women’s basketball team. Brad is this year’s recipient of the Dan and Patti Rashke (TASC) Family Foundation Scholarship, the Hamel Family Scholarship, the Mike and Shelley Muranyi Final Four Men’s Basketball Scholarship and the Wiegand Family Scholarship. Endowed Funds for Scholarship Support Recipient / Sport Adam and Nikki Burish Hockey Scholarship Fund............................................. Cole Caufield | Men’s Hockey Al and Bernice DeSimone Football Scholarship Fund ...................................... Clay Cundiff | Football Alan Ameche Scholarship Fund ............................................................................. Nakia Watson | Football Albert O. and Nancy J. Nicholas Men’s Basketball Scholarship Fund in memory of Silas G. Johnson .............................................. Nate Reuvers | Men’s Basketball Albert O. Nicholas Endowed Basketball Scholarship Fund ............................. Aleem Ford | Men’s Basketball Alice Higgitt Helminiak Scholarship Fund ........................................................... Anna Makarova | Women’s Tennis Andrew Kilbride Scholarship Fund ........................................................................ Trevor Anderson | Men’s Basketball Andringa Family Scholarship Fund ........................................................................ Sean Dhooghe | Men’s Hockey Andy and Sue North Family Scholarship Fund ................................................... D’Mitrik Trice | Men’s Basketball Anita J. Angus Fund for Athletics .......................................................................... Izzy Ashburn | Volleyball Anita J. Angus Fund for Athletics .......................................................................... Cameron Murtha | Women’s Soccer Anita J. Angus Fund for Athletics .......................................................................... Dominick Mersch | Men’s Hockey Anita J. Angus Fund for Athletics .......................................................................... Alyssa Niggemann | Women’s Track Anthony A. Mierzwa Golf Scholarship Fund ....................................................... Chip Savarie | Men’s Golf Anthony A. Mierzwa Golf Scholarship Fund ....................................................... Sebastian Iqbal | Men’s Golf Anthony A. Mierzwa Golf Scholarship Fund ....................................................... Alyssa Gromala | Women’s Golf Anthony A. Mierzwa Golf Scholarship Fund ....................................................... Nicole Ciskowski | Women’s Golf Armund J. “Pug” Schoen, Jr. Scholarship Fund for Tennis ................................ Chase Colton | Men’s Tennis Art Brazy Athletic Scholarship Fund ..................................................................... Semar Melvin | Football Badger Advantage Club Scholarship Fund .......................................................... Ava Makham | Women’s Tennis Badger Crosscourt Club Scholarship Fund .......................................................... Daniel Nuzhny | Men’s Tennis Badger Golf Scholarship Fund ................................................................................ Tess Hackworthy | Women’s Golf Baker Tilly Virchow Krause Scholarship

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