Colorado State University Athletics
Jerry and Carol Rice Give Back to CSU Athletics
10/18/2004 12:00:00 AM | General
If money makes the world go round then you can thank volunteers like Jerry and Carol Rice for keeping it spinning.
Jerry Rice is a native of Fort Collins and was born and raised in the area attending Wellington High School and has been a CSU fan since he was a little boy. His love for the school and the sports followed him as he aged.
Jerry?s wife Carol did not attend the university but came here with her mother who attended CSU. Carol has worked at the university since she was 19-years-old starting with her job at the Colorado State University Police Department. She later switched jobs after she retired from the Army ROTC. With so many ties to the university, the Rice family saw it as inevitable that they get involved.
?We both have been affiliated with CSU for so long and we love sports,? Carol said. ?It was kind of hard not to get in. My sister, my niece and my granddaughter all attended or are attending CSU, so our families are involved with the program also.?
Carol and Jerry are both on the Ram Booster Boards, and are the original and current members of the Rams Spirit Committee, where Jerry is the active president. Both of them also work the Big Tent before football games; also known as the Ram Zone, they are involved with the tailgating, Carol is co-chair of the Ram Good Time Auction Committee, and they are involved with the Booster Fun Drive.
?We generate a lot of money at the football games, and whatever money we raise goes back to the sports. We buy all the banners that are hanging in Moby, and we give the money to the cheerleaders, it all goes back,? said Carol.
Volunteering for CSU takes up a great deal of time, not to mention effort and energy. But unlike our barter community where people give and expect to receive something in return, the Rice?s volunteer simply to cure the desire of just wanting to help.
?We help the athletes get an education by raising scholarship money. We get to meet people and we get people involved with the athletics at CSU,? said Carol
And without such big contributors, who take the time to care about the program at CSU, the student-athletes wouldn?t be able to function as smoothly as they do now. Carol says that the best thing about what she does is meeting new people and being able to support the Rams, but it?s the success of the program that keeps Carol and her husband going.
?Colorado State has a great program,? she said. ?If the school didn?t have the quality coaches, athletic administration personnel, and of course the athletes then it wouldn?t be worth it.?
