Penn State alumnus and longtime donor Michael J. Farrell announced that The Farrell Family Charitable Foundation that he established has committed to give Penn State $1 million to support the Football Excellence Fund in Intercollegiate Athletics.
As a result, the team auditorium in the Lasch Football Building will be named in honor of the 2012 Penn State football team of which Farrell’s son, Mike, was a member.
“We are so appreciative of the commitment that The Farrell Family Charitable Foundation has made to Penn State football,” Director of Athletics Sandy Barbour said. “We value the long-standing relationship with Michael Farrell, and this gift assists us in providing world class conditions for success for our student-athletes on the field, in the classroom and in life.”
The Football Excellence Fund provides discretionary funding to support costs such as facilities improvements, equipment purchases, travel and other needs that arise throughout the season.
“We are very grateful to The Farrell Family Charitable Foundation for this generous gift to our football program and very appreciative of the efforts by Mike on and off the field during his time as a Penn State football student-athlete,” head football coach James Franklin said. “The 2012 team was a special, resilient group who will always be remembered for the commitment they made to Penn State and the football program. The support from this gift will provide us with the resources to give our football student-athletes an unrivaled Penn State experience.”
“This gift honors those who stayed, those who came, and those who came back,” Michael J. Farrell said. “By that, I mean the 2012 players and coaches who stayed in the face of adversity, those players and coaches who came later in spite of that adversity, and finally, those hundreds and hundreds of lettermen who came back in 2012 to support that team and the program.”
Michael J. Farrell, the president and CEO of Farrell & Co. out of Pittsburgh, graduated from Penn State in 1971 from the Smeal College of Business. He has been active in the Smeal College, serving three consecutive terms on the college’s Alumni Society Board of Directors (1987-97), as well as on the Smeal Board of Visitors.
An offensive tackle, Mike Farrell was selected 2012 honorable-mention All-Big Ten by the coaches and media after helping the Nittany Lions to an 8-4 record. He was the 2012 co-recipient of the team’s Richard Maginnis Award, presented to its top senior offensive lineman.
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