The N Club
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Dear N Club member:
As your N Club President and fellow varsity letter winner at Northwestern, I want to thank you for your support of Northwestern Athletics and encourage you to stay connected in the coming year. There were a number of Wildcat team and individual accomplishments to celebrate in 2010-2011 as well as outstanding academic honors. In fact, all 451 student-athletes combined to earn a 3.22 overall GPA and a school-record 201 Academic All-Big Ten honors and school-record 52 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar awards. The N-Club’s ability to support Northwestern Athletics and our “Unique Sports Network” depends on your support. Please join me and make an annual membership donation of $60 to the N-Club and together we can team up and have an impact on the success of Northwestern Athletics in 2011-2012.
Financial support from the N Club is allocated to many areas each year and it falls into two primary categories: helping fund initiatives within Northwestern Athletics that often fall outside the means of annual budgets, and, initiatives that support the N Club’s mission to help former letter winners maintain their ties and continue to strengthen our alumni network. Below are specific examples of how N Club membership donations were allocated last year:
The N Club Senior Induction and Awards Dinner
The N Club once again provided financial support for this marquis annual event honoring our graduating student-athletes. This year we welcomed 400 guests and the N Club inducted 121 student athletes. Kate Stephensen (swimming) and Matt Eliason (soccer) spoke on behalf of the graduating student athletes - both providing great insight into their four years at Northwestern. Kate reflected on the importance of “team” and Matt reflected on his outstanding overall experience and reinforced that excellent balance exists between academics, athletics, and community service at Northwestern. The 2011 N Club Performance award winners were Sabel Moffett (volleyball), Christopher Lashmet (baseball) and David Lipsky (golf), while Amy Jaeschke (basketball) and Michael Thompson (basketball) were awarded the N Club Achievement awards. This year’s Honorary N was awarded to Mr. Charles F. (Rick) Taylor, former Athletic Director of Northwestern University (1994-2003), for his long time support and past, outstanding leadership of Northwestern Athletics.
N Club Scholarship
The 2010-2011 N Club Endowed Scholarship is awarded to an outstanding male or female student-athlete each year. This year’s winner was Chelsea Armstrong (field hockey).
N Club Mentorship Program
This year we launched a pilot program for N Club letter winners to provide mentoring support to student athletes from four sports and we hope to generate more interest so we can expand it in the future. More N Club volunteer mentors are needed. If you are interested in becoming a mentor, please email us at: nclub@alumni.northwestern.edu. Think back about the insight you could have used as a student athlete trying to juggle school, competition and what to do after graduation. We appreciate your consideration in becoming a mentor.
N Club Football Post-Game Receptions and other Networking Events
Last year the N Club sponsored four post-game football receptions which featured guest speakers and game analysis by football coaches as well as two networking events in the Chicago area for our local N Club membership. The first event was in May when the N Club hosted one of our own, Brad Traviolia (wrestling ’90), current Deputy Commissioner of the Big 10 Conference. Traviolia shared insights from the Big 10 Conference. In July, we held our annual event for student athletes from the graduating class of 2011. Finally, building on the success of Wildcat Alley (pregame fan fest area) before home football games, the N Club sponsored a special spring Wildcat Alley in April which featured games, food, face painting and a chance to meet Wildcat student-athletes.
Please mark your calendars for the six home games and post-game receptions planned for 2011. Our first reception will be following the Eastern Illinois home game on Saturday, September 10. Please think about using football Saturdays and the N Club’s post-football game receptions to mark a special event. If you want to organize a reunion of a particular team, sport or group, doing so in Evanston in conjunction with a game can be fun while giving us a chance to introduce and recognize your participants at our post-game reception.
If you plan to be in Evanston, please also pencil in participating in the fourth annual N Club football tunnel at Homecoming against Penn State on October 22nd at 6:00 CST. Last year more than 150 N Club members showed their support and gathered on the field to welcome NU's football team back from halftime.
Again, thank you for your support, and we look forward to seeing you at future NU athletic events and N Club activities. If you would like to stay abreast of N Club activities or make your N Club membership donation on-line, please visit http://www.alumni.northwestern.edu/nclub and select "Donations". You may also sign-up by completing the enclosed membership card and returning it in the enclosed business reply envelope. Make sure to include your email address so we can include you on our mailing list for the N Club networking events.
Best regards and as always, Go ‘Cats!
Roger Williams
N Club President (Wrestling ‘94)
To make your annual $60 N Club donation by mail, click here to download the form. Or, click on this “Donations” link (in "my designations" type in "N Club" and then add your gift amount) to make a secure credit card donation today!
