Steve and Ashley Richardson Allen surprised the team and coaches with the announcement of the $2 million endowment gift at the team's first official practice today (Monday, Sept. 21) on the floor of the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. The team celebrated just steps away from Jerry Richardson's signature, which is painted on the floor.
 
The Ashley Richardson Allen Head Women's Basketball Coach is the first endowed head coaching position at Wofford College.
 
"I love all sports, but I have a soft spot for women's sports at Wofford," says Ashley Allen, who, in May, completed 12 years of service on the Wofford College Board of Trustees. "During the final few years of my board service, I spent time thinking of ways I could continue to serve the college outside of the board room. It's been a dream at the college to endow professorships and head coaching positions. Considering the national climate surrounding athletics, I believe this is the right way and the right time to make an impact."
 
Scott Kull, Robert D. Atkins '65 Director of Athletics, shared the goal with the Allens during his first month at Wofford.
 
"I asked Ashley if she thought it could be done, and, without hesitation, she said, 'Yes,'" remembers Kull. "I have never forgotten that conversation. We talked about how endowing our coaching positions could provide a sustainable source of funding for operating budgets and protect the student-athlete experience we value so much at Wofford. This gift is the first step in turning that vision into reality."
 
Ashley ran track in high school, so endowing the head women's basketball coaching position had nothing to do with her experience on the basketball court. Instead, it had everything to do with the admiration she has for Wofford coaches, her fondness for Coach Jimmy Garrity and the program he has built, and the respect she has for all student-athletes.
 
"There's something special about endowing a head coaching position in this building," says Ashley. "When dad built the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium, he was so specific about things being equal for both women's and men's sports. It makes me so proud to be able to honor that commitment, starting with the women. I think he would be so pleased."
 
The Allens typically prefer to give quietly behind the scenes, but they believe that making a very public gift in support of women's athletics sends a powerful message. They hope this gift will light a spark that leads to others thinking deeply about what they can do to make Wofford better.
 
"It's a big step toward — in a perfect world — endowing all of Wofford's athletics teams," says Steve Allen. "I hope this makes people ponder what the future could be at Wofford if we had the resources to sustain every sport in the current climate of college athletics. Any individual or group could take this on, and it would have an incredible impact."
 
"Wofford does such a good job of developing the whole student, and our coaches follow that mission by supporting student-athletes physically, academically, spiritually, emotionally and professionally," says Ashley. "All of our coaches do a remarkable job with the resources they have, and this gift pays homage to all of them while honoring Coach Garrity and the women's basketball assistant coaches who work hard to support our student-athletes and build a culture that we can all be proud of."
 
Garrity is entering his 11th season as the head coach of the Terriers. He is humbled by the gift and feels fortunate to have the Allens in his corner.
 
"This gift is about so much more than any one coach, player or team. It creates a lasting legacy for the young women who wear the Wofford jersey today and those who will wear it for generations to come," says Garrity. "I'm honored to be the coach entrusted with carrying that legacy forward."
 
Before rotating off the board of trustees, Ashley made a gift to every excellence fund on campus — for academics and athletics. She wanted to know that she had contributed to the success of every student. Those annual gifts make an immediate impact and enhance the needle-moving gifts she and her family have made to the endowment. The Richardson family has established seven named endowments supporting scholarships, experiential learning, athletics, employees and building upkeep and maintenance. In addition, the Allens have established endowed scholarships for volleyball and women's basketball. Ashley is particularly proud of the scholarship supporting students in the visual and performing arts that she, Steve and their four children — Caroline, Matt, Luke and Hannah — established to honor her mother, Rosalind Sallenger Richardson.
 
"We love knowing that four students each year who study, create and perform in mom's beautiful center for arts have scholarship support so they worry less about paying for college and can focus more on their futures," says Ashley.
 
According to Wofford President Jay Dowd, the Richardsons and Allens have always led by example.
 
"For Steve and Ashley Richardson Allen it's simple: See a need, fill a need," says Dowd. "Just as endowing faculty chairs and professorships is paramount to the success of our college, building the sustainability of Wofford's NCAA Division I athletics program is an important step in ensuring that Wofford has the resources it needs to reduce tuition dependency. We want to be leaders in how we look at endowing coaching positions, and the Philanthropy + Engagement team, the director of athletics, Terrier Club staff and I look forward to having conversations with others who would like to follow the Allens' example."
 
Ashley has managed the Richardson Family Endowed Scholarship, the college's largest and most prestigious scholarship, for decades. During Richardson Scholar finalist interviews, she tells this story when talking with students and their parents:
 
"Back when my father was trying to decide where to go to college, Wofford seemed farther away from Fayetteville, North Carolina, than it does now. There was no easy way to get from there to Wofford. My father was the only child, and the family had one car. Both of his parents worked. His mother worked in retail for a local clothing store. His father was a barber in a military town. Because of that, they didn't have lots of opportunities to travel. I always wondered how my grandmother could let him go. So, when we started the Richardson Family Scholarship in the mid-1980s, I went to visit my grandmother," says Ashley. 
 
Ashley shared her father's plans for the scholarship with her grandmother and asked her why she supported his decision to go to Wofford.
 
"I remember it plain as day. We were sitting in her kitchen, and she looked at me and said, 'I could let him go because I knew that Wofford College cares.' That was in 1954, and she let him leave home because she knew Wofford would take care of him. And that's still true today," says Ashley. 
 
For Ashley, a Spartanburg native, Spartanburg and Wofford both represent home, even though she lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. She wants this place and the people who live, work and learn here to know that she believes deeply enough in the community and mission to make a significant investment. 
 
"I had the best examples of philanthropy in my life," says Ashley. "My parents were consistent and gave of their resources so effortlessly. When you get older, you start to think differently about things, and I often wonder if I've done enough. What more do I need to do? What more can I do? There's so much that felt right about this gift, at this time, in this place for the women's basketball program." 
 
Ashley's first gift to the college was to the Terrier Club. She was a teenager and gave with money she earned babysitting. 
 
"I just knew I wanted to do my part," says Ashley. "I had no idea at the time that the few dollars I proudly contributed back then would be the beginning of a journey that would lead to a gift of this magnitude. I'm looking forward to witnessing and enjoying the impact this gift will make on women's basketball and Wofford athletics."
 
Ashley hopes her children and grandchildren will always be connected to Wofford, Spartanburg and the legacy of Jerry Richardson. Steve hopes they realize something else as well.
 
"Jerry Richardson's legacy is and will always be at Wofford College, and so will their mothers and grandmothers. Ashley Richardson Allen has done things her own way and developed her own legacy at Wofford," says Steve. "This gift honors her commitment and ensures that legacy."