RCAF: UL’s RCAF Annual Fund sets contributions record

Tim Buckley, The Advertiser, January 11, 2016

 

Jim Harris is introduced last August as the new executive director of the Ragin’ Cajuns Athletic Foundation.(Photo: Ken Stickney, The Advertiser)

 

 

The Ragin’ Cajuns Athletic Foundation, UL’s athletic fundraising arm, announced Monday that its Annual Fund raised a record $2.166 million for the 2015 calendar year.

The effort trumps a record-setting year in 2014, when $2.165 million was raised.

Those are the only two years the RCAF’s Annual Fund has raised more than $2 million in a single year.

“Setting yet another record … speaks directly to the passion and commitment of the Lafayette community and all of Ragin’ Cajun Nation,” RCAF executive director Jim Harris said in a statement released by the school.

“That statistic speaks volumes given the current economic condition for our area,” Harris added. “We cannot thank the RCAF members and supporters enough for their contributions, which directly benefit our student-athletes.”

The contributions came during a year in which UL’s baseball and softball teams both played in NCAA Super Regionals, but the UL football went just 4-8 and failed to make a bowl game for the first time in five years.

As an organization, the RCAF raised more than $8.5 million in 2015 – including the Annual Fund contributions.

Gifts to the Annual Fund provide unrestricted money that enables support for overall athletic department operations, personnel, and facility improvements, including those within an athletic facilities masterplan unveiled in 2013.

Completed Tier I projects in the three-tier masterplan include the addition of nearly 6,000 seats in the south end zone at Cajun Field, UL’s football stadium; a new 100,000-square-foot athletic performance center; and a renovated soccer/track facility.

Part of Tier 2 is $10 million-plus renovation of UL’s M.L. “Tigue” Moore Field baseball stadium, which is scheduled to begin in earnest after the 2016 season. Additional Cajun Field renovation and expansion is planned as well.

“On behalf of the Ragin’ Cajuns Athletic Foundation Board of Directors, I would like to thank everyone who supported RCAF through a gift to the Annual Fund in 2015 and made this accomplishment possible,” RCAF chairman Robert Daigle said in a statement released by UL.

“This organization has grown in each year of its existence,” Daigle added, “and that success is directly attributed to the support and generosity of our membership.”