Ferrum College Successfully Completes “Batting a 1.000” Campaign, Far Exceeding Original Goal

The Ferrum College softball team will soon enjoy an enhanced facility after the College successfully completed its “Batting a 1.000” campaign for a new softball complex, named after Hall of Fame softball coach Vickie Van Kleeck.

The College raised over $330,000 from 119 donors for the new complex, far exceeding its original goal of $100,000 by June 30, 2022.

“I couldn’t be more thankful for the many donors who helped make our Batting a 1.000 campaign a success,” stated Director of Athletics John Sutyak.

“This was a true team effort to get us to our goal, which included our alumni, parents, staff, faculty, friends and a number of our current Ferrum softball student-athletes contributing to the campaign. The future is bright for Ferrum College softball,” continued Sutyak.

“It was a pleasure to work with so many friends and alumni on this campaign. The success of this fundraising effort will allow Ferrum College to build the best softball stadium in the ODAC and one of the best in all of Division III,” stated Director of Development Bart Smith.

Former Ferrum College student and longtime supporter of the College, Tracy R. Frist, made a $10,000 gift to Ferrum College to support the College’s Appalachian Literature project (AppLit) and the digitizing and archiving needs of the Blue Ridge Institute & Museum (BRIM).

“Tracy’s generous gift to the BRIM archive will provide us with the resources we need to digitize collections of folktales and songs so that they will be easily available for public use,” said Bethany Worley, director of the Blue Ridge Institute & Museum.

AppLit is an online resource created by Tina L. Hanlon, professor of English at Ferrum College, to serve as an archive of Appalachian literature for children and young adults. Frist’s own original animal tale, “Mountain Marbles: An Appalachian Tale,” is archived on the site.

Frist said Hanlon’s course enlightened her about the value of folktales and inspired her to support the ongoing preservation work through Ferrum College. “Dr. Hanlon taught me preservation of culture, history and diversity lies in storytelling. Ferrum College and the greater Appalachian community is full of powerful and transformative stories. I want to be a part of saving these stories with this rich cultural evidence and making them accessible to everyone,” said Frist.