Steph’s Stadium THIS FALL, there is something missing on upper campus: “Sports Stadium.” In its place is Steph Pettit Stadium, named for the alumnus who made a $1 million contribution for stadium improvements and athletic scholarships. Pettit, Class of 1989, played football for the Huskies. He founded Clean Earth Systems in 1993 and has seen the company grow into a nationwide distributor of hazardous waste containers. The company, based in Tampa, Fla., now operates 12 warehouses throughout the U.S. “I have a passion for Bloomsburg University. I want all of our coaches and studentathletes to have the opportunity to come to BU and compete at an outstanding venue,” says Pettit. “This gift will help the coaches have the resources to recruit the very best student-athletes who, when they get to campus, will see that Bloomsburg has great facilities. “I spent a lot of my time where this stadium stands when it was the practice
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BLOOMSBURG UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
football field, so the area is special to me. There aren’t many people who can say they have a field named after themselves. That’s pretty cool and quite an honor.” Stadium improvements include new field turf, wind screens and scoreboard. Constructed in 2006, the facility seats more than 700 fans for Huskies field hockey, men’s and women’s soccer and women’s lacrosse. Local high school and university club teams also use the field. “We are excited that Steph has made such a big commitment to this project,” says Erik Evans, vice president for University Advancement. “He has stepped forward numerous times to help the university and for that we are grateful.” Among the other projects Pettit has supported with a commitment of more than $2 million are the First and Goal campaign for football scholarships, the SP-59 endowed football scholarship and Redman Stadium banner project. l
PHOTO: JAIME NORTH