Rams Relief: Athletic Scholarships
3/4/2021 8:00:00 AM | Ram Club, Stalwart Rams Relief
Back in high school, Lyndsey Carlaw looked at the athletic scholarship offer from Colorado State with a fairly narrow focus.
Now Lyndsey Linke, Ph.D – CEO and co-founder of SiVEC Biotechnologies – the true value of the gift really comes into view.
"That's kind of a loaded question. Starting out, when you're a young athlete, I don't think you have the full appreciation for how it can impact your life," Linke said. "I can look back on it now and reflect and really see how it has shaped my life, and that's really an understatement."
For the younger her, the athletic scholarship meant a chance to compete at a Division I institution, and she really liked Colorado State's program when she arrived back in 1998. And she lived up to her end of the deal athletically, winning a Mountain West championship in the 100-yard butterfly and qualifying for the Olympic Trials.
In a very unprecedented time in all of our lives, Colorado State Athletics and the Ram Club are asking all of our valued supporters to make a gift to the athletic scholarship fund and make a life-altering impact on our student-athletes. The financial crisis is real for everyone, yet our primary goal remains to create the greatest experience for our student-athletes. Your gifts will help lessen the impact they feel as they pursue their athletic and educational goals.
Colorado State Director of Athletics Joe Parker understands exactly how Linke feels, having walked the path of what an athletic scholarship meant to him at first and what it means to him now.
"I credit the life I have with the degree I took away from my undergraduate institution," Parker said. "I can't imagine another experience that would have provided the foundation and gave me the motivation and confidence that I was prepared. It's a unique experience to be a student-athlete. I don't care where you're at and what colors you represent. From what I've experienced at the six institutions I've worked at, I think the process works the same and creates the same level of value for each individual, but you have to embrace it."
Never would that be an issue for Linke. She came to Colorado State as a self-motivated individual, a trait which only grew stronger through her hours in the pool and during course work. The more she was drawn in, she became even more determined.
As important as the athletic component was, so too was the academic side. Admittedly, she didn't have the same laser focus in what she was pursuing, just the understanding once she found her path, it would be approached with the same tenacity. She took advantage of all the tools and resources she had at her disposal, be it trainers and nutritionists in the pool, to the counselors at the academic and career centers.
She knew it would be something scientific, and engineering caught her attention, and her ties with Colorado State have never really been severed.
She earned her undergraduate degree in biology, with an emphasis in biomedical engineering. She stayed and earned her Master of Engineering in Biomedical Engineering. She remained with CSU to earn her Ph.D. in Infectious Disease Epidemiology.
The work she did to earn her doctorate led to technology the university patented. Her company exclusively in-licensed the technology, and through a $3 million grant from the National Institute of Health, they are developing a rapid-response antiviral for the flu. Her biotech company has also developed a novel drug delivery system to enable the next generation of RNA-based drugs, including mRNA vaccines.
Now 20-plus years later, she still does occasional work with the scientific research branch at Colorado State, a relationship she never would have imagined arriving on campus.
Which is the point she'd make to donors. What they provide goes beyond helping attract student-athletes to Colorado State to win championships. Those gifts from supporters and former letterwinners can drive some of those young adults to improve the communities around them for years to come.
To date, the Stalwart Rams Relief campaign has raised nearly $1 million, supporting a myriad of areas in the athletic department, including but not limited to our 16 varsity sports and the Together Initiative.
"We thank everyone, and we're proud of the response from the CSU fan base in helping us," Parker said. "They've provided us with resources to bridge to a better year in 2021, with access to hosting and bringing fans back to our venues."
What Linke did understand immediately was the athletic scholarship represented a belief someone had in her, someone she had not met, and she didn't want to let it go to waste. Not the scholarship, nor the chance.
For her, it was life changing. She hopes future donors understand how one gift can give exponentially.
"It absolutely does. It motivated me to perform at a very high level," she said. "And today I can look back and say my past successes as an elite athlete, which I directly attribute to my scholarship, have helped to positively differentiate me from other individuals and colleagues that I work with, to young CEOs and entrepreneurs. I use that. I will say I swam at an elite level, I was a college athlete."
Now Lyndsey Linke, Ph.D – CEO and co-founder of SiVEC Biotechnologies – the true value of the gift really comes into view.
"That's kind of a loaded question. Starting out, when you're a young athlete, I don't think you have the full appreciation for how it can impact your life," Linke said. "I can look back on it now and reflect and really see how it has shaped my life, and that's really an understatement."
For the younger her, the athletic scholarship meant a chance to compete at a Division I institution, and she really liked Colorado State's program when she arrived back in 1998. And she lived up to her end of the deal athletically, winning a Mountain West championship in the 100-yard butterfly and qualifying for the Olympic Trials.
In a very unprecedented time in all of our lives, Colorado State Athletics and the Ram Club are asking all of our valued supporters to make a gift to the athletic scholarship fund and make a life-altering impact on our student-athletes. The financial crisis is real for everyone, yet our primary goal remains to create the greatest experience for our student-athletes. Your gifts will help lessen the impact they feel as they pursue their athletic and educational goals.
Colorado State Director of Athletics Joe Parker understands exactly how Linke feels, having walked the path of what an athletic scholarship meant to him at first and what it means to him now.
"I credit the life I have with the degree I took away from my undergraduate institution," Parker said. "I can't imagine another experience that would have provided the foundation and gave me the motivation and confidence that I was prepared. It's a unique experience to be a student-athlete. I don't care where you're at and what colors you represent. From what I've experienced at the six institutions I've worked at, I think the process works the same and creates the same level of value for each individual, but you have to embrace it."
Never would that be an issue for Linke. She came to Colorado State as a self-motivated individual, a trait which only grew stronger through her hours in the pool and during course work. The more she was drawn in, she became even more determined.
As important as the athletic component was, so too was the academic side. Admittedly, she didn't have the same laser focus in what she was pursuing, just the understanding once she found her path, it would be approached with the same tenacity. She took advantage of all the tools and resources she had at her disposal, be it trainers and nutritionists in the pool, to the counselors at the academic and career centers.
She knew it would be something scientific, and engineering caught her attention, and her ties with Colorado State have never really been severed.
She earned her undergraduate degree in biology, with an emphasis in biomedical engineering. She stayed and earned her Master of Engineering in Biomedical Engineering. She remained with CSU to earn her Ph.D. in Infectious Disease Epidemiology.
The work she did to earn her doctorate led to technology the university patented. Her company exclusively in-licensed the technology, and through a $3 million grant from the National Institute of Health, they are developing a rapid-response antiviral for the flu. Her biotech company has also developed a novel drug delivery system to enable the next generation of RNA-based drugs, including mRNA vaccines.
Now 20-plus years later, she still does occasional work with the scientific research branch at Colorado State, a relationship she never would have imagined arriving on campus.
Which is the point she'd make to donors. What they provide goes beyond helping attract student-athletes to Colorado State to win championships. Those gifts from supporters and former letterwinners can drive some of those young adults to improve the communities around them for years to come.
To date, the Stalwart Rams Relief campaign has raised nearly $1 million, supporting a myriad of areas in the athletic department, including but not limited to our 16 varsity sports and the Together Initiative.
"We thank everyone, and we're proud of the response from the CSU fan base in helping us," Parker said. "They've provided us with resources to bridge to a better year in 2021, with access to hosting and bringing fans back to our venues."
What Linke did understand immediately was the athletic scholarship represented a belief someone had in her, someone she had not met, and she didn't want to let it go to waste. Not the scholarship, nor the chance.
For her, it was life changing. She hopes future donors understand how one gift can give exponentially.
"It absolutely does. It motivated me to perform at a very high level," she said. "And today I can look back and say my past successes as an elite athlete, which I directly attribute to my scholarship, have helped to positively differentiate me from other individuals and colleagues that I work with, to young CEOs and entrepreneurs. I use that. I will say I swam at an elite level, I was a college athlete."
