New facilities considered game-changers inside Reid Athletic Center

Colgate Athletics kicked off a big day of Homecoming events Saturday morning with the official dedication of three new spaces located within Reid Athletic Center.

These spaces – Fred’s Place, the Colgate football locker room, The RCA Meeting Room and The Victoria M. Chun ’91, MA’94 and Susan Chun Academic Services Center – were made possible thanks to the support of Brion ’76 and Sabrina Applegate, Frederick “Tiger” ’81 and Andrea Dunlap P’18, Robert ’78 and Deirdre Relph P’09, and Gordon ’62 and Mary Watson P’98,’01.

Fred’s Place is the new name given to the Colgate Football locker room, which during the summer received a complete makeover. The renovated space was dedicated in honor of Fred Dunlap ’50, football coach and athletics director who served the University from 1976-98.

“These investments are signals of Colgate’s commitment to compete at the very highest level both academically and athletically,” said Colgate President Brian W. Casey. “We will not accept anything less than that. We are going to be the premier academic institution that is going to compete at the highest level athletically. That is what Colgate represents for this nation.”

The locker room is completely custom with 91 state-of-the-art lockers, a new audio/visual system, and new carpeting and branding.

Adjacent to the locker room is The RCA Meeting Room, named for Ruth Cline Applegate and all Colgate football moms. This new space provides flexibility to meet as a full team and also divide into four smaller rooms for position meetings. Each room is equipped with audio and video equipment with custom branding throughout.

“This is a facility that is as good as it gets,” said Fred ’50 and Marilyn Dunlap Head Football Coach Dan Hunt. “It’s better than our competition and puts us in the forefront on many levels. When our student-athletes walked in and saw it for the first time they were absolutely blown away.

“From day-to-day operations, the meeting room is not only beautiful, but it’s extremely functional,” Hunt continued. “It makes us much more efficient as coaches and a team. The locker room is absolutely amazing. It truly brings us together as a team.”

Colgate also officially unveiled the Victoria M. Chun ’91, MA’94 and Susan Chun Academic Services Center. The beautiful new facility is named in honor of the Colgate Vice President and Director of Athletics, who before her administrative career was a Patriot League Player and Coach of the Year for Colgate’s volleyball team; and her mother, who lives in Los Angeles.

Chun is Colgate’s winningest volleyball coach and is the only person to be named both Player and Coach of the Year in the same conference.

Housed at the former location of the bowling alley in the heart of Reid Athletic Center, the new academic center is three times larger than the old academic center and provides Colgate’s student-athletes with a state-of-the-art study space. Images and artifacts from each of Colgate’s 25 sports are incorporated into the design of this new space.

“The space is truly unique in that it captures the spirit of our student-athletes by combining their athletic and academic identities as one,” said Angela Marathakis, Assistant Athletics Director and Director of Student-Athlete Academic Enhancement. “Our student-athletes take pride in thriving in both areas. This space is unlike any other space on any other college campus. With the Chun Academic Services Center, our student-athletes will know, feel, and now see how supported and committed we are to providing them a top-notch Division I athletic experience and an unparalleled academic experience.”

Colgate student-athletes have made tremendous strides athletically and academically under Chun. Colgate placed 193 student-athletes on the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll for 2013-14. This academic year that number was 285 – a 47.7 percent increase in just three years.

By martha

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