Dave Rock ’92 and Family
Make Historic Donation to
Lacrosse Programs
From left to right: Elisabeth and Dave Rock ’92, Senior Vice President and
Athletic Director Alex Ricker-Gilbert and men's lacrosse Coach John Galloway.
For 30 years, Dave Rock ’92 helped
build a solid foundation for lacrosse
at Jacksonville University. A formal naming ceremony for
the Rock Lacrosse Center will take
place in the spring of 2020.
He founded the first men’s lacrosse
club team in 1988. He served as a
lacrosse player, captain and head
coach. As an alumnus, he supported
the recent parent-led effort to
build a state-of-the-art $1.8 million
lacrosse center. Dave, whose name already appears
on the facility’s coaches’ locker room
thanks to a previous gift, founded
the Dolphins lacrosse team with no
money or equipment, according to
men’s lacrosse Coach John Galloway.
Recently, Dave and his parents,
Alvah and Susan, made a donation
that will greatly strengthen
Dolphins lacrosse.
“The Rock family gift is
transformational,” Senior Vice
President and Athletics Director
Alex Ricker-Gilbert said. “This gift
will assist our student-athletes,
lacrosse programs, department,
and University for years to come.
Having the Rock family name on
our Lacrosse Center couldn’t be
more appropriate as Dave Rock
was instrumental in bringing men’s
lacrosse to Jacksonville University.”
In February 2019, the Jacksonville
University men’s and women’s
lacrosse programs moved into
one of the first lacrosse-only
facilities in the nation thanks to
the efforts of parents and alumni
like Dave. The 8,600-square-foot
Rock Lacrosse Center is located
on the north side of D.B. Milne
Field, where both lacrosse teams
play their home games. The Rock
has 10 offices, a conference room,
theater-style film room, men's and
women's locker rooms, and two
large outdoor patios.
“I am honored to have participated
in the founding of JU's lacrosse
program, and it is my absolute joy
and privilege to be a part of its
legacy now, decades later, and on
into the future,” Dave said. “My
family’s gift celebrates the first team,
the administration, the coaches,
all players, and their parents who
have tirelessly carried the torch and
fulfilled a 30-year dream."
The women's lacrosse team, led by
Coach Mindy McCord, won the
ASUN Conference for the past 3
years and appeared in five NCAA
Tournaments. The men's program, led
by USA lacrosse gold medalist Coach
Galloway, has long hovered near the
top of the Southern Conference.
“I couldn’t be more grateful to have
Dave and his wife Elisabeth as
friends, mentors and supporters of
the men and women who walk in
and out of this facility every day,”
Coach Galloway said, “And I can
only hope they know the impact this
will have on those student-athletes
for the rest of their lives.”
NEWS
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