Women's Volleyball Squad Receives $360,000 Donation
T.D. “Davey” Einarsson Endowment Fund to be set up in honour of donor
REGAN SARMATIUK
n August 15, the Bison women’s volleyball team received the single largest individual donation in Bison Sports history — a $360, 000 donation that will be put into an endowment fund bearing the donor’s name: the T.D. “Davey” Einarsson Bison Women’s Volleyball Endowment Fund.
The donation will also be matched by the U of M through the provincial government’s Manitoba Scholarship Bursary Initiative grant, and the endowment fund will provide the presentation of 12 separate scholarships — enough for a whole team — to women’s volleyball players every year, in perpetuity.
Bison women’s volleyball head coach Ken Bentley was understandably grateful for the generous gift.
“I think he [Einarsson] really understood the human impact of what this kind of support means to student athletes, and women in particular,” said Bentley, who added that, generally speaking, women’s sports don’t always have the same opportunity as men’s sports to enjoy support from private donors such as Einarsson.
“I think he was considerate of that, and just the fact that really bright, hardworking, talented young women are going to go out and have a great impact on the community when they graduate. This is the kind of tangible legacy that he’s going to provide for us, and that’s the nicest part of the whole story.”
Einarsson, a U of M alumnus (BSc 1956) who currently resides in Houston, Texas, where he is the president and CEO of a company called Geophysical Service Incorporated, grew up in Arborg, Manitoba as the youngest of ten siblings in a close-knit family of 12. One of Einarsson’s siblings was Bentley’s grandfather, and the twelve scholarships to be handed out every year will each bear the name of a member of the Einarsson family. “Davey,” as he is known by family members, was the only one of all 10 siblings to attend university.
“He really thought it would be a nice way to honour his family and his parents, who worked very hard to put him through school,” said Bentley. The endowment fund will come into effect at the start of next season, and Bentley said that “not one cent” is earmarked for regular program costs, such as equipment and travel, but that the money is strictly for scholarship support.
Plans are currently underway for a celebratory weekend at the start of the women’s volleyball season, beginning with a special ceremony on November 3 immediately following the Bisons’ home opener versus the Winnipeg Wesmen. On November 4, a dinner will be held to commemorate the significant donation.
