Endowment benefits sports programs

The football and men’s basketball programs at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point will be the beneficiary of an endowment established by LaVern N. Van Dyke and Nancy Steiner Van Dyke, both 1941 graduates of the institution.

The Van Dykes have established a charitable trust with the UWSP Foundation which will become part of their estate. Estimated value of the gift is $100,000.

Income from the fund will be used as a private financial source to support the football and men’s basketball programs at UWSP. The money will be used at the discretion of the head coaches with permission of the athletic director for any purposes authorized by the university, the conference and the NCAA.

LaVern, a native of Little Chute, was an assistant football coach at UW-Madison from 1949 to 1976. Nancy was an elementary school library director throughout her career.

The Van Dykes created the fund "to assist student athletes in the football and basketball programs and to maintain an outstanding athletic program in the tradition of the great Pointer Football Coach—Eddie Kotal." Since UWSP is not allowed to give athletic scholarships, the couple wanted to do something to benefit all of the athletes in the programs. LaVern spent six years before his retirement in 1982 coordinating scholarships for male and female athletes at UW-Madison.

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