CSUB raises more than $100K to save sports
| Saturday, May 15 2010 10:53 PM
Last Updated Saturday, May 15 2010 10:53 PM
Saturday night's Cal State Bakersfield save the sports event raised between $110,000 and $120,000, event officials estimated.
More than 400 attended the event at the Jam Events Center, which was organized to raise some of the money needed to save four CSUB sports that have been earmarked for elimination by university President Horace Mitchell: wrestling, men's and women's golf and women's tennis.
"I'm not surprised. I hoped this would happen," Mike Mendoza, who has taken over the CSUB wrestling program from retiring head coach T.J. Kerr, said of Saturday's fundraiser.
Mitchell and athletic director Rudy Carvajal were among CSUB officials who attended the event.
"I think they are happy with what's going on," said Mendoza, who said he spoke with Mitchell Saturday night. "Are they surprised (with the three-month long fundraising effort)? I think they are a little bit. They've encouraged us. They're positive with what we're doing."
Mitchell said in February that the sports could be retained if $1.4 million could be raised to support the four programs for two years, and a deadline of May 21 was set for a final decision. Mendoza said he thought about $1 million has been raised to this point, which would easily cover costs for one year.
On Saturday, a live auction generated $76,900, financial organizers estimated, with nearly $59,000 of that paid by the time the event concluded. Another $3,354 was raised from a raffle and $13,683 from a silent auction.
Tickets to the event sold for $50 apiece and it was estimated that more than 400 tickets were sold. Some expenses were incurred, most notably dinner costs, which need to be deducted from the profits.
The largest items sold at the auction were two packages at $12,000 each to attend a New England Patriots home game next season. Airfare, lodging and tickets were included in the items, which were donated by Patriots offensive lineman Stephen Neal, CSUB's most notable former wrestler and one of the key organizers of Saturday's event. A Neal game jersey (including grass stains) was sold to Kerr for $5,000. Cash gifts were also made.
"Tonight was very successful," Mendoza said. "I'm very happy with what went happened."
