Fans gathered in the University Center to participate in the Lion Nation Celebration. Food was provided as well as an auction that featured Lions’ memorabilia. 
The Lion’s Roar / Toby Everett

This year’s Lion Nation Celebration helped to raise money for the Athletics Department and student-athletes’ scholarships.

At the 2015 Lion Nation Celebration, fans, coaches, cheerleaders and Lionettes gathered to celebrate and raise money for the 2015-2016 athletic year. From 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, August 22, 2015 at the University Center, fans participated in both a silent and live auction.

“We started last year. The gentleman that was in my role had this vision. It is a fundraiser for the Athletic Department and so we are planning to have this as an annual event,” said Assistant Athletic Director for Marketing and Development Tom Dawsey. “So, this is actually the second annual Lion Nation Celebration.”

The main focus this year was to make the event more interactive and enjoyable for everyone.

“Basically the only thing that we are changing is we are trying to make it a little bit more fun event. We are going to have some dancing. We’ve got a cash bar this year where we didn’t have that last year,” said Dawsey. “So it’s going to be more of a party atmosphere. A lot of these guys that are coming are fans or boosters [that] have given us money in the past and so we want this to be a big, ‘Thank you.’”

Some of the items fans had the opportunity to bid on were signed apparel and memorabilia from the Southland Conference champion football and baseball teams along with items signed by Terry Bradshaw, Mariano Rivera and LaDainian Tomlinson as well as other famous sports icons. 

Dawsey explained other signed items included a signed Green Bay Packers Brett Favre jersey, a signed Indianapolis Colts Peyton Manning jersey and a football signed by Peyton, Eli and Archie Manning.

According to Dawsey, game day experiences, which were auctioned off, give fans a chance to live the life of a football, baseball and basketball athlete on game day.

“Our coaches have been really supportive and they do a great job of trying to engage our fan base,” said Dawsey. “What’s going to happen is coach Ladner with men’s basketball, coach Roberts with football and coach Riser with baseball are going to allow a fan to experience exactly what the players experience on a game day. They will be able to go to pregame meals, any meetings that they have, anything like that, the walkthroughs and actually go out on the field with them. Then they’ll be able to either stand on the sidelines or sit on the bench with the coaches. It’s a pretty neat experience.”

Also, during the event, Richard “Dickie” Whitson, a board member of the Alumni Association, received the “Heart of the Lion” award. The award recognizes his years of service to the university.

For more information on upcoming fundraiser events, visit selu.edu.