$1 Million Gift Supports Student-Athlete Leadership Center

The Garvy Family Foundation has made a $1 million gift commitment to UCF Athletics. The gift will support the construction of the Wayne Densch Center for Student-Athlete Leadership.

“We are fully supportive of the Wayne Densch Center for Student-Athlete Leadership and are pleased to be part of this exciting project,” Carol and Robert Garvy said. “UCF has become very special to us and we are particularly interested in the development and future of UCF student-athletes.”

The Garvys’ son Kevin was a member of the Knights football team from 2008-12, seeing action in every game of his senior season. Kevin Garvy is a 2012 UCF graduate with a bachelor’s degree in finance. The younger Garvy is currently enrolled at UCF as a graduate student and is scheduled to earn his MBA this spring. In addition, Robert Garvy is a member of the UCF Athletics Association Board of Directors and the UCF Board of Trustees.

The Wayne Densch Center for Student-Athlete Leadership will serve as the headquarters for UCF student-athletes’ personal, professional and academic development. It will house UCF’s Student-Athlete Leadership Institute, Academic Services for Student-Athletes, Student Services and Compliance departments. The center will also provide operations space to serve more than 500 student-athletes. It will include a multi-purpose classroom, which will hold 200 students, a computer lab, tutoring and mentoring rooms, study space and conference and resource rooms.

UCF Vice President and Director of Athletics Todd Stansbury said the gift from the Garvy Family Foundation will help ensure the development of Knight student-athletes long into the future.

“We are very grateful to Carol and Bob Garvy for this wonderful gift,” Stansbury said. “Thanks to this commitment from the Garvy Family Foundation, UCF student-athletes – our Everyday Champions – will continue to benefit from the Wayne Densch Center for Student-Athlete Leadership for years and years to come.”

UCF President John C. Hitt echoed those sentiments.

“It means so much to have the generous support of Carol and Bob Garvy and the Garvy Family Foundation,” Hitt said. “This gift to the Wayne Densch Center for Student-Athlete Leadership will allow our student-athletes to grow into academic and community leaders who will make Knights everywhere proud.”

The Wayne Densch Center for Student-Athlete Leadership will be located just east of and adjacent to Bright House Networks Stadium. Construction is slated to begin before the end of 2014.