Miami Ohio University Athletics
Gleason Gift Supports Miami Women's Athletics
8/2/2011 12:00:00 AM | General
Aug. 2, 2011
A $250,000 commitment from Austin and Lois Hall Gleason of Hamilton has created the Austin and Lois Hall Gleason Women's Athletic Scholarship, supporting student-athletes in Miami University's varsity women's basketball, volleyball, softball and/or swimming and diving programs.
Lois Hall Gleason, Miami '54, a native of Wyoming and inductee into the Wyoming High School Athletic Hall of Fame, represented Miami on the varsity field hockey and women's basketball teams and holds fond recollections of the experience.
"I was fortunate to be a Miami student-athlete for four years in the days before Title IX," she recalled. "We had no uniforms, no transportation other than a university van and our professors' cars, and our physical education professors were our coaches. But travel and play we did."
Lois Hall Gleason taught and coached at Fairfield High School, and in 2001 she was honored with the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky Lifetime Service Award. She also was inducted into the Butler County Fast Pitch Hall of Fame.
"I am proud that I was able to be a pioneer for what intercollegiate women's athletics has become today," Lois said. "Today's women student-athletes at Miami are phenomenal and classy, and we are pleased to support them with our scholarship."
Austin Gleason is a graduate of Hamilton High School, who worked 50 years as a pharmacist, including 25 years owning and operating his own pharmacy. He worked as part of the chain gang at Miami football games for 20 years and is an inductee into Butler County's Fast Pitch and Bowling Halls of Fame.
The commitment includes an initial cash gift that establishes the endowment and a significant planned gift that will enhance its impact.
"It is humbling to see an alumna and women's athletics trailblazer like Lois Hall Gleason, who truly played for the love of sport, to so avidly support and invest in today's women student-athletes," said Brad Bates, director of intercollegiate athletics. "Miami athletics is grateful not only for our continued relationship with Austin and Lois but also for the generous and important support they have provided to our women's athletics programs."
The gift counts toward the Miami University Campaign For Love and Honor, a $500 million initiative supporting scholarships, faculty, student-learning opportunities, academic programs, and facilities and grounds. To date, the campaign has raised more than $95 million in student scholarship support, and the university recently stated its objective to raise an additional $50 million in scholarship support by 2015.
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