Louise Bennett Reed
The athletic department announced during the summer that it received three major private donations totaling $5.36 million.
Louise Bennett Reed, whose father and brother-in-law operated the former Lafayette Black Diamond coal mine, made the athletic department the sole beneficiary of her $4.75 million estate before she passed away last year at age 103. The amount represents a record for a single donor to the department. Reed specified the money be used for football and men’s and women’s basketball scholarships.
She volunteered as an academic adviser and career counselor for CU football players during the 1970s.
“This is a powerful and inspirational gift that means so much to us on so many levels,” athletic director Mike Bohn told The Denver Post. “I couldn’t be more touched.”
An additional $610,000 came from two other private donations — $360,000 from an anonymous donor and $250,000 from John Raeder (Econ’85) and Debbie Raeder (Rec’86). The former stipulated that the football offices in the Dal Ward Center be renamed the “Eddie Crowder Football Operations Complex” in honor of the late football coach and athletic director. The latter donation will support the student-athlete academic center at Dal Ward.
