Dear Owl Fans:

The 2021-22 academic year has come to a close and it has been another outstanding year for FAU Athletics. Our student-athletes finished strong in the classroom once again and reached unprecedented level of success on the fields and courts of play.

The generosity of FAU Athletics donors and supporters is vital to the department's success. I cannot overemphasize how important that support is currently and how important it will be as we move into the American Athletic Conference.

Last Friday, we announced that we will become full members of The American in July of 2023. We are working diligently to prepare for that transition, while focusing on a successful final year in Conference USA.

Over the past several months, many of our generous donors have stepped up to help us support our student-athletes in meaningful ways. Since the fall, we've announced many significant gift commitments, including the following:

• An anonymous $1 million donation toward the funding of an indoor performance center for the baseball program
• A $670,000 donation from the Schmidt Family Foundation to develop the FAU Student-Athlete Mental Health Fund and create the position of Director of Mental Health
• Yet another gift from Kimberly V. Strauss to support the FAU men's and women's tennis programs. Her most recent $500,000 gift will go toward state-of-the-art lighting at the Kimberly V. Strauss Tennis Center
• A $500,000 gift from Dr. Eric Shaw ('72, '73), Professor Emeritus of Marketing at FAU. His gift commitment will establish the Dr. Eric H. Shaw Student-Athlete Excellence in Academic Performance Award.
• An anonymous gift of $100,000 to improve the FAU beach volleyball facilities
• Scholarship support of $100,000 to the Paradise Club from the McGee family

During the 2021-22 fiscal year, we received eight 6- or 7-figure gifts. FAU Athletics has been the beneficiary of 23 such gifts in the last four years, the most of any four-year period in the history of our athletics department.

Again, we can't say thank you enough to each and every person who supports our student-athletes. Gifts of all sizes are important, appreciated and truly make an impact on the lives of the young people we serve.

Academics Update
The culture of academic success within FAU Athletics continues to be strong. Owl student-athletes have completed 14 consecutive semesters with a department-wide grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better. That's an incredible accomplishment, the equivalent of seven straight years.

Our student-athletes' department-wide GPA last year (2020-21) was 3.116. For the 2022 spring semester, the Owls compiled a 3.122 GPA, which was the third-best spring semester in that streak of 14 straight.

Meanwhile, our student-athletes are continuing to graduate at a rate that is higher than the general student body and we boast a 93 percent NCAA Graduation Success Rate.

Winning In Paradise
Our teams and programs have experienced a great deal of success this past semester. Below are just a few of the highlights we have enjoyed over the past few months:

• The football team wrapped up a successful spring practice season with a highly-competitive Spring Game. The Owls are currently taking part in off-season conditioning and will open fall camp in just over a month in preparation for the season-opener August 27 vs. Charlotte at FAU Stadium. Tickets are available now.
• The men's basketball team earned just the fourth postseason berth in school history, taking part in the College Basketball Invitational postseason tournament. The Owls compiled their fourth consecutive winning season, a first in program history, while their C-USA record was also best in program history.
• History was made by the beach volleyball program. The Sandy Owls advanced to their first-ever NCAA Championship and took down No. 9-seeded Stanford in the first round to win their first ever match at an NCAA Championship. They finished No. 8 in the final AVCA ranking. FAU Beach Volleyball also secured a ton of hardware. Coach Capri Grotowski was the C-USA Coach of the Year. Assistant coach Steve Grotowski was the AVCA National Assistant Coach of the Year. Erica Brok and Mackenzie Morris earned their second straight First Team All-America honors, while also being named C-USA's Pair of the Year. The future is bright as well, as Courtney Moon and Marketa Svozilova were both named First Team All-CUSA and are expected to return, while Julie Honzovicova was honored as the CUSA Freshman of the Year, while Svozilova was a CUSA All-Freshman team honoree.
• Women's golfer Letizia Bagnoli also made history. She earned a trip to the NCAA Division I National Championship, making her the first Owl women's golfer to do so. She also won the Conference USA Individual Championship, marking the first time an Owl has accomplished this feat.
• Men's tennis reached its highest national ranking ever during the course of this season, while finishing 18-6, including an impressive, undefeated (7-0) record at home. The Owls were No. 49 in the final rankings, out of 264 squads.
• Men's swimmer Rateb Hussein was named the CCSA Men's Swimmer of the Year, earning Most Outstanding Swimmer honors at the CCSA Championship meet. He won the 100-meter freestyle championship (including a meet record time), while also taking top honors in the 100- and 200-meter butterfly.

Paradise Pride Tour
Our annual Paradise Pride Tour returns this summer, with the first stop set for 6-7:30 p.m. Tuesday (June 21) at Johnnie Brown's in Delray Beach (301 E. Atlantic Ave.). I am looking forward to greeting and speaking with many of you at each of the tour stops. Head football coach Willie Taggart and plenty of our other coaches will be in attendance. The other Paradise Pride Tour stops are set for July 25 in West Boca at Duffy's Sports Grill and August 1 at Bonefish Mac's in Coral Springs. See you there, Owl fans!

Remembering, Honoring Joan Joyce
FAU and the greater sports world lost an icon this spring when the legendary Joan Joyce passed away on March 26. Until her passing, Coach Joyce was the only head coach in the history of the FAU Softball program, leading the program for 28 years, and she compiled an astounding 1,002 victories in her career. She also served as the head women's golf coach for FAU from 1996-2014.

We were proud to honor Coach Joyce with a Celebration of Life last weekend. It was an incredible event to celebrate a truly remarkable woman, a pioneer in women's sports and beloved member of the FAU community.

As always, thanks for all your support of FAU Athletics.

Sincerely,
 

Brian White
Vice President and Director of Athletics