Mojo Field at Mountaineer Bowl at the Rady Family Sports Complex

Major Gifts Bring the Dream to Life

Mountaineer Bowl is one of the most magical places on Western’s storied campus. It’s the place where Western students begin and end their time on campus (from orientation convocation to commencement). It’s where more people of the Western and Gunnison communities gather than any other place. One can almost hear the echoes of cheers and applause that have poured from that place over its lifetime. It is a place of coming together for celebration. It is the largest gathering spot in the Valley and always for something exciting and uplifting.

But there was a blemish on the Bowl. The press box, the command center and focal point, was one of the oldest and weakest standing buildings in the Valley. This building, due to of lack of state and private funding, particularly for athletics, had been held together with “baling wire and chewing gum.” The paradox was sad – the front porch of Western and the gathering place of the people of the Valley, looks out on the inspiring mountains from a feeble and crumbling structure, not representative of the incredible effort our student-athletes and coaches put into their sport.

A group of alumni major donors decided to change all that. Through their generosity, they lit the fuse for the effort to renovate the Mountaineer Bowl Events Complex.

Jeff (’75 Geology and a member of the Western Foundation Board) and Karen (’75 History) Holway made the first gift, before anyone else believed enough to invest. Neither was a NCAA student-athlete at Western, yet they saw the tremendous importance of the project for Western’s reputation, upward momentum, and the need to support the Mountaineer student-athletes who compete there, and the community that gathers there. Jeff and Karen gave $400,000 as a way to inspire confidence in the effort from the very start.

Jeff explained, “We wanted to do this for the sake of our students, community, alumni, and the self-image and pride of Western, to send the message that Western stands for excellence, and will never settle for limitations or low expectations.”
Don Jackson (’80 Accounting, and a former member of the Foundation Board), and his wife Michelle, followed with a massive gift of their own, this one from someone who left his mark on the stadium. Don played offensive guard for the Mountaineers as part of the legendary O-Line nicknamed “The Big Red Wall.”
“This Bowl project has been a long time coming for Western,” said Jackson. “And I am grateful to be able to help bring it to fruition. Michelle and I are pleased to make a gift of $300,000 and name the home game-day locker room for “The Big Red Wall.”
Don and Michelle structured their gift as a challenge/match for Western alumni and friends to match 1:1 gifts to the Bowl Renovation up to $300,000. Quickly, Rob and Vicki (’86 Business, member of the Alumni Advisory Council) Wheeler and Tim Bergquist (’92 Business) generously answered the challenge with major gifts of their own, followed by many gifts from other alumni student-athletes, members of Mountaineer Football Alumni Association (MFAA), and friends.

Michael O. Johnson (’77 Political Science) visited campus in May, 2022 to deliver a special MasterClass of “Rules of the Road” to a standing room only crowd in the Rady School’s largest lecture hall and gave the Commencement address in a capacity crowd at Mountaineer Bowl.

“Just being there, looking at the stunning view of the mountains, from the tired and worn Bowl itself, it was clear that our stadium needed to match its setting, both in beauty and grandeur. It was then that I told my friend, interim president Nancy Chisholm, that I would be giving $450,000 to the project.” In the summer 2024, Michael increased his commitment to secure the naming rights to the field, thus launching the new name, Mojo Field at Mountaineer Bowl at The Rady Family Sports Complext.

The Holway, Jackson and Johnson gifts lit the fuse, another gift would redefine and elevate the project.

When Paul Rady (’78 Geology) spoke with then interim-president Nancy Chisholm (’90 Business) about the importance of the Mountaineer Bowl project to the University, he decided to match his tremendous investment in Western academics (founding and funding the Rady School of Computer Science and Engineering, and the Katy O. Rady Soccer Field) with an additional transforming gift to Western Athletics. “Understanding the important role athletics plays on campus, Katy and I wanted to complement Western’s expanded academic programming with a well-deserved enhancement to the athletic core,” said Paul Rady.

Paul and Katy stepped up with a transformative multi-million-dollar commitment to expand the project to include:

New 10,000 square foot press box to include locker and training rooms to accommodate women’s soccer and their opponents, scorekeeper box, coaches’ boxes, broadcast booths, hospitality suites, filming platform, restrooms and a concession area with concourse.
20,000 square foot gateway entrance to the Mountaineer Bowl Events Complex inclusive of a new ticket office, two locker and training room facilities for football game days and track meet usage, officials’ locker room, and restrooms.
Addition of artificial turf playing surface and lighting to allow for expanded usage.
New video/scoreboard including a filming platform.
Resurfaced track to enhance our Men’s and Women’s Track and Field teams.

“The Mountaineer Bowl is a highly visible pillar of our campus and, in its current condition, does not represent the level of excellence we aim to achieve. We hope to inspire our alumni, community, students and their families when they attend events at the complex. Now, with Paul and Katy’s generosity, together with the Holway, Jackson and Johnson major gifts, we will have a facility that matches the one-of-a-kind, majestic views from Mountaineer Bowl to help make that impact,” said past Interim President Nancy Chisholm. She continued, “Our student-athletes excel academically, retain and graduate at very high levels and are leaders on this campus. A renovated complex helps us recognize the critical role they play at our institution.”

Western will recognize major gifts to the Mountaineer Bowl Events Complex with naming opportunities within the gateway facility, field, track, and press box.

NAMING OPPORTUNITIES

Lend Your Name to this Historic Project! There are naming opportunities to suit many gift sizes:

Locker and stadium chair
Name a Row of Bleachers with Seat Back ($5,000/row)
Name a Soccer Locker ($1,000/locker)
Name a Football Locker ($1,000/locker)
Name a Track & Field Locker ($1,000/locker)

If you’d like to participate in this historic project, Contact Athletic Director, Miles Van Hee at mvanhee@western.edu

Athletic Director Miles Van Hee shared, “this has been a priority project for the university and
athletic department for many years. Having Paul and Katy’s commitment, along with the support of other generous Mountaineers, will allow us to fulfill this long-awaited dream, and create a Mountaineer Bowl Events Complex that demonstrates our vision for championship-caliber excellence.”

Mesa Properties, who built the 75,000 square foot Gold LEED certified Rady Building, began construction this past summer with a goal of opening the new Mountaineer Bowl Events Complex by fall, 2024.

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