Wilmington College is a private, Quaker-affiliated liberal arts college located in its namesake town in Clinton County.
College leadership described Jerry Scheve’s record $23 million gift as “transformational.”
“It comes from someone who gave his life to Wilmington College, and who understood exactly what this community could become,” President Corey Cockerill said. “Coach Scheve’s generosity challenges us to think bigger, act bolder and lead with the same integrity he carried every time he walked into a gym or a classroom...This gift ensures that future generations will benefit from the same values he upheld so fiercely: discipline, humility and excellence.”
Scheve coached the Lady Quakers for 30 years before retiring in 2021. His 2004 team won the NCAA Division III national championship, the apex of his 518 career victories, the college said.
The money will go towards the college’s athletic programs, as well as peace and conflict resolution programming and international affairs. The “centerpiece” of the funded projects is the Scheve Athletic Center, officials said, including construction of an indoor track, named the Jenna Parlette Running Center.
Parlette was a student-athlete at Wilmington College who tragically died after collapsing just short of winning a collegiate cross country race in 2013, the college said. For years, the college has hoped to honor her memory with a “much-needed indoor track, an initiative Scheve quietly supported over the years.”
The money will also fund a Hall of Champions that celebrates athletic success and a host of major upgrades and additions to the College’s athletics infrastructure and sports programming.
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