Bostock donates $5 million to athletics for Duke Forward

As a part of Duke's $3.25 billion Duke Forward capital campaign, Roy and Merilee Bostock have committed $5 million to Duke athletics.

The gift will go into a $100 million fund for athletic facility improvements, specifically focusing on basketball and football to make the facilities more attractive to recruits. The Chronicle spoke to Bostock, a former Duke athlete, about the gift. More if you click through, but here's the skinny:

The University announced a major gift to athletics on the eve of the latest Board of Trustees meeting.

Roy and Merilee Bostock, who graduated from Duke in 1962, committed to a $5 million gift to fund facilities upgrades for Duke Athletics. The announcement comes as the Trustees are convening to discuss a tuition increase and the promotion of two areas of study: international comparative studies and neurology. The Trustees will also spend time in an interactive seminar “retreat” on the topic of the value of higher education.

Bostock came to Duke on a football scholarship and earned varsity letters in both football and baseball. He also graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in English.

“I chose Duke because I thought it had the right balance between academics and athletics... I wanted to play Division I football and still have a very strong academic experience,” he said. “I look on Duke Athletics and particularly Duke football as giving me a huge opportunity to succeed going forward.”

The gift will go into a $100 million fund for improvements to athletic facilities, particularly Wallace Wade Stadium and Cameron Indoor Stadium. President Richard Brodhead asked Bostock to lead this initiative as part of the $3.25 billion Duke Forward capital campaign, Bostock noted, adding that the athletics fund has gathered commitments totalling nearly a third of that so far. Both Trustee David Rubenstein, Trinity ’70, and Dr. Steven Scott and his wife Rebecca have committed $10 million to the athletics facilities campaign.

The upgrades will focus on the two revenue sports, men’s basketball and football, with the goal of making Duke more competitive in attracting recruits and fans, Bostock said. By optimizing these facilities, Duke will be better able to “pay the bills” for other sports.