10/25/19
By Hayley Bieker
FHSU Foundation
HAYS, Kan. – Don and Chris Bickle have long been known for their philanthropy and support of Fort Hays State University. A reception earlier this week in FHSU’s Center for Applied Technology celebrated the couples latest $1 million commitment to the university.

The majority of their gift will support Tiger Athletics, which will continue to propel FHSU’s student-athletes and programs to success. The remainder of their gift will support:

• The Robbins College of Business and Entrepreneurship
• The Robotics program within FHSU’s Department of Applied Technology
• Their lifetime support of Fort Hays State University’s Alumni Association
• FHSU President Tisa Mason in support of her strategic plan for the university

Their gift to the president’s strategic initiatives fund will help fuel the success of FHSU’s strategic plan for years to come

“We are here to honor Don and Chris Bickle – some of our most loyal and generous supporters to Fort Hays State University,” said Jason Williby, president and CEO of the FHSU Foundation. “I want to express our humble gratitude for their loyalty and commitment, but also for their ongoing support and encouragement, which permeates throughout our community.”

“You’ve supported Tiger Athletics in many ways over many years,” added Curtis Hammeke, director of FHSU Athletics. “From the indoor training facility, which has meant so much to all of us, to the new video board, and your scholarship support. I could go on.”

“As you know, we feel it’s important to not just have nice facilities, or facilities that are as good as others, but we strive to have facilities that are even better,” said Hammeke. “Recruiting is the livelihood of our athletic program, and our facilities make a great difference in that recruitment process. I feel that this all leads back to making Hays the special community that it is, and Fort Hays State the special university that it is.”

“I’m so very grateful for this opportunity to recognize the ongoing support of Don and Chris,” said Dr. Melissa Hunsicker Walburn, interim dean of the W.R. and Yvonne Robbins College of Business and Entrepreneurship.

“Sometimes we are challenged as educators to ask ourselves: ‘Why do we do what we do? What is our why?,’ ” she said. “For many of us, our answer is to fuel the passions of the next generation –  their curiosities, their imagination and their desire to explore the world around them. There’s no doubt that this support from Don and Chris will create many, many opportunities, which would otherwise not be accessible to a great deal of FHSU students.”

“Today,” she continued, “I thank Don and Chris most specifically for their continued support of experiential world travel and the learning opportunities that would remain ideas and dreams rather than actual plane tickets and detailed itineraries. Thank you for your support of student travel, and for allowing our students the opportunity to learn from other cultures.”

Cody Escritt, a graduate student from Nebraska, spoke on behalf of FHSU’s robotics program.

“I’ve worked a lot with the robotics program here at Fort Hays State – throughout my undergraduate program in manufacturing and now in my graduate program as I’m taking a course in advanced education through instructional technology,” he said. “I know I would not be where I’m today without our robotics, without our phenomenal instructors and without your support. It’s very important for students, like myself, to have this robot, this up-to-date technology, and to learn what it will be like in the field upon graduation.”

“I’m here today to represent the Fort Hays State University Alumni Association,” said Mike Koerner, vice president of the Alumni Association Board of Directors.

“We want to thank you for the many ways you’ve helped our mission of developing positive life-long relationships between the university and our alumni, faculty, staff, friends and students,” he said. “FHSU’s alumni events just wouldn’t be the same without you running up and down the aisles singing the university’s unofficial anthem ‘In Heaven There is No Beer.’”

In typical Don Bickle fashion, he concluded the celebratory reception by leading the FHSU pep band, cheerleaders and mascot, Victor E. Tiger, in the university’s unofficial anthem and fight song. Before long, the full crowd had joined Don in clapping and singing along.

Join Don and Chris Bickle in supporting the area(s) of campus that mean the most to you by visiting https://foundation.fhsu.edu/donate.

To learn more, visit https://foundation.fhsu.edu or contact the FHSU Foundation at 785-628-5620 or foundation@fhsu.edu.

Cutline: Don and Chris Bickle with Tiger cheerleaders and Victor E. Tiger at a reception in their honor announcing their latest $1 million gift to Fort Hays State.