Grant’s passion for running, though, led him to compete in elite marathons and to scale mountains from Kilimanjaro to Denali and Everest. And as he cut the ribbon on the Grant Family Track and Field, he encouraged UHart’s student athletes to “make this facility as inclusive as you possibly can.”
Grant was joined by Alicia Queally, the University’s director of athletics and recreation, as well as newly inaugurated President Lawrence P. Ward and Board of Regents Chair Donald Allan, Jr. ’86. Also in attendance were Connor Green, head cross country/track and field coach, and members of UHart’s track team.
“Everybody here has an opportunity,” Grant said. “You get to create some traditions on this track and field, traditions that will live on and on, long after you're gone and graduated and giving money back to the university.”
In addition to Grant’s generous $1 million leadership gift, the reimagined track and field complex—which features a 400-meter, eight-lane “full pour” track surrounding a new field tailored to field hockey, as well as an adjacent throwing area—was made possible through gifts from corporate partners including Stanley Black & Decker, CVS/Aetna, and Robinson & Cole LLP., along with support from alumni and friends of the University.
“If you want to know the value of a person,” said Ward, “it's how they spend their time and how they spend their treasure. Someone's treasure and their time are the two most precious resources that they have. That Kevin would spend his time and invest his treasure here at the University of Hartford tells you about what he values, and we are enormously grateful to him.”
The new facility comes at a time of great promise for the University of Hartford’s athletic programs, which recently completed its transition to NCAA Division III. Built to NCAA standards, the new facilities create an opportunity for the University to serve as a potential host for NCAA regional and national tournaments for both track and field and field hockey.
“It’s important that our student athletes have an opportunity to have this kind of facility on campus—probably the best track in the northeast,” Queally said. “But it’s also important that our whole campus community has a place to come, not only to get exercise, but to make new memories and experience that camaraderie.”
After the ribbon cutting, Grant invited the assembled members of the track team to join him in being the first to use the new track. “But,” he said, “you have to lap me.”
All of them accepted the challenge.
Alicia Queally, Director of Athletics and RecreationIt’s important that our student athletes have an opportunity to have this kind of facility on campus—probably the best track in the northeast. But it’s also important that our whole campus community has a place to come, not only to get exercise, but to make new memories and experience that camaraderie.