Angelo State Receives $500,000 for Athletics Endowment

SAN ANGELO, TX — Angelo State University has received a $500,000 gift from noted local philanthropist and arts enthusiast Elta Joyce McAfee to help establish the new Angelo State Athletics Endowment, one of the top priorities of ASU's ongoing "Leading the Charge" capital campaign.

The Angelo State Athletics Endowment will provide annual distributions to support a bonus structure for high-achieving ASU head and assistant coaches, with the goal of recruiting and retaining the best coaching staff for student-athlete development and success, as well as providing support for general needs of ASU athletics.

With McAfee's gift, ASU has now raised about $3.1 million toward its $5 million campaign goal for the Angelo State Athletics Endowment. In recognition of her generosity, one of the entry tunnels in the ASU Junell Center/Stephens Arena will be officially named the Elta Joyce Murphey Athletic Tunnel.

"Sometimes, the greatest gifts can come from unexpected sources," said ASU President Ronnie Hawkins Jr. "Mrs. McAfee's love and support of the fine arts were already well known in San Angelo and on the ASU campus. Now, she has flipped the script and committed her latest contribution toward ASU athletics, and we couldn't be more grateful. She simply looked for an area of greatest need and routed her support for the Ram Family in that direction. It's truly heartwarming to see her selfless generosity in action for the benefit of our coaches and student-athletes."

A long-time supporter of the arts in West Texas, McAfee previously gifted Angelo State $2.3 million in 2022 to help fund the ongoing restoration and renovation of ASU's University Auditorium, which has been re-named the Elta Joyce Murphey Auditorium. Like the auditorium, the Junell Center/Stephens Arena tunnel is being commemorated under McAfee's maiden name of Murphey to honor her contribution and her family.

"When you enjoy sustained success in athletics like we do at Angelo State, the coaches responsible for it are inevitably going to get offers from other schools," said James Reid, ASU director of athletics. "The Angelo State Athletics Endowment will allow us to match or beat those offers so we can keep our outstanding coaches who not only lead our student-athletes to excellence on the courts and fields, but also in the classroom and in the community. Mrs. McAfee recognizes how important this is, and her awesome gift will certainly aid us in these efforts."

Angelo State annually fields about 350 student-athletes in 15 intercollegiate sports, including six men's sports and nine women's sports. They are guided by approximately 35 head, assistant and graduate assistant coaches as they compete in NCAA Division II and the ultra-competitive Lone Star Conference. In 2023-24, ASU posted the second-highest score for an LSC school in the D-II LEERFIELD Directors' Cup competition, which awards points based on an institution's performance in NCAA Championships.

Additionally, ASU student-athletes posted a 3.085 cumulative grade point average (GPA) for the 2023-24 academic year, six ASU teams earned national team academic awards, and 91 student-athletes graduated and earned their degrees. Student-athletes also performed 3,267 hours of community service, which equates to $103,903 of economic impact for the community.

McAfee's longstanding support for Angelo State stretches back to 1980 when she joined the ASU President's Circle. She also supports ASU's annual Phil George Blue & Gold Dinner and Auction, and has contributed to the ASU Friends of Art and Music Entertainment (FAME) Scholarship Endowment, the ASU Friends of the Library and the ASU Office of the Laura W. Bush Institute for Women's Health.