Gifts build momentum for Northern football stadium project

Press release

Montana State University-Northern announced it has received $250,000 in new support of its stadium renovation project, just one week after announcing two gifts totaling $550,000.

“I appreciate our community working with us to move Northern forward,” Northern Chancellor Greg Kegel said. “Strong athletic programs lead to a vibrant student experience, and help us generate the additional resources we need to keep making improvements across campus.”

The Northern Lights Athletic Scholarship Foundation contributed $150,000 which was raised during fundraising events held throughout the year.

“This stadium will bring our players, families, alumni and students back on campus for the game-day experience,” said Garrett Hanson, the Northern Lights Athletic Scholarship Foundation’s board president. “Everyone on NLASF is fully behind this project. (The board members) all invested individually to the project as well.”

To date, the Northern Lights Athletic Scholarship Foundation has contributed over $1.7 million in support of Northern athletics scholarships and programs since it was founded in 2004.

The second gift to be announced is a $100,000 commitment from the Northern Alumni Foundation. The gift comes from unrestricted funds, funds are not designated for any specific purpose and may be used to support Northern at the discretion of the foundation’s board of trustees.

“Supporting MSU-Northern is the foundation’s core mission,” Foundation Board Chair Roger Pugh said. “When the university has goals, we look for ways to help them succeed. But that can only happen through the support of so many alumni and friends. It is their generosity that made this commitment possible.”

The recent fundraising successes and two foundations dedicated to benefitting Northern are well-timed, Kegel said.

  “At Northern, we’re so fortunate to have the support of these foundations,” he said. “To have both come forward with momentum-building gifts to the stadium project shows a high level of trust and confidence in our programs and in our plans to build the future of MSU-Northern. We’re looking forward to delivering on that trust.”