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Majors & Degrees

Maroney donates millions to Trojans Unite Campaign

June 1, 2022

Thanks to DSU alumnus Patrick Maroney, $7 million dollars have been donated to the athletics facilities for the Trojans Unite Comprehensive Campaign: Building Champions.  He has donated an additional $1.5 million to scholarships as part of the Academic Success pillar of the campaign.

“Pat’s gift was essential in our ability to break ground on the athletics facility this spring,” said Jon Schemmel, CEO of the DSU Foundation. “He has been a great supporter and advocate for DSU for years. Jill Ruhd has done an amazing job growing our relationship with Pat for years and his legacy will now directly impact students into perpetuity.”

Maroney grew up in nearby Howard, S.D. and while he started his college career elsewhere, he finished it at Dakota State, then known as General Beadle State College, earning a degree in education in 1967.

“I really enjoyed my time there,” he said. “And I stayed connected, living 20 miles away.”

After graduation, he took over his family’s bar in Howard and has spent his life being involved in his community. Maroney spent time as a county commissioner, chairman of the Miner County Community Revitalization Organization, and chairman of the board of the Rural Learning Center.

He also spent 11 years as a member of the Dakota State Foundation Board of Trustees. While Maroney has retired to Sioux Falls, he’s continued to follow Dakota State and is impressed with the changes and improvements happening on campus.

“What I see now is just amazing,” he said. “This university is going places.”

Maroney is excited about DSU’s expertise in the increasingly important field of cybersecurity, the Applied Research Lab that will be opening in Sioux Falls, and phase one of the new athletic facilities.

A sports fan for his entire life, he was inspired to donate to the athletics facilities and is elated over the recent groundbreaking. “It’s one thing to plan and dream,” he said, “it’s another thing to put shovels in the ground.”

He is thrilled to watch the dynamic growth of DSU in academics and athletics, adding that he wishes he was younger and could come back to DSU and earn a degree in technology.

In addition to the $7 million for athletics facilities, $1.5 million will be donated for scholarships, to be dispersed between athletic and academic scholarships in his name.

The expense of college makes the need for scholarships very important, Maroney said. “Scholarships are a valuable investment; they are a way to invest in other people’s lives.”

“On behalf of the entire DSU community, I’d like to thank Pat Maroney for his amazing generosity and support for DSU Athletics,” said President José-Marie Griffiths. “As a long-time supporter of DSU, he has proven time and again to be generous to our young, aspiring athletes. We are truly grateful for this new gift which will allow us to elevate our athletics and rise to meet the challenges of the future. We thank pat for his many years of service and dedication to DSU and its foundation.”

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