In the next year alone, 40 UNMC teams proudly will smile and raise the UNMC Intramural League’s version of the Stanley Cup.
The prestigious Ruth & Bill Scott Intramural Champions Cup — named for longtime UNMC supporters Ruth and Bill Scott — was unveiled on a sunny Wednesday afternoon during the All-Campus BBQ, which drew hundreds of faculty, staff and students outdoors to socialize, play yard games, and enjoy free food and music.
See a photo album from the event.
“These two amazing members of our community have been instrumental in building this campus,” said UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D. “None of this would have been possible without their generosity and vision.”
Household names at UNMC, the Scotts have been instrumental in transforming the UNMC landscape by financially supporting the construction and/or renovation of nearly every building on the academic campus, including those encircling the Ruth and Bill Scott Student Plaza.
On a campus that values wellness, their financial support of the 2016 addition and renovation of the Center for Healthy Living has enabled intramural participation to climb.
“Today, we offer 18 different sports and 693 teams (since breaking ground on the project in October 2015) have competed in intramural leagues,” Dr. Gold said.
Registration still open for fall intramurals.
Ruth Scott beamed with the news — and later acknowledged how her grandson, 2015 UNMC College of Medicine graduate Eric Nagengast, M.D., had approached them about updating the then “antiquated” Center for Healthy Living.
“What a really happy day this is for us,” Ruth Scott said Wednesday, noting the role exercise and fitness has played in their own lives. “In 1940, Bill purchased the Charles Atlas weight lifting system,” she said. He later moved to handball, tennis, golf and, after a fall several years ago, was “saved” by daily visits to the gym, she said. “Renovating the gym could be compared to hitting a home run in the ninth inning.”
Her other lesson for the crowd: “Stay positive . . . After a recent fall down the stairs, instead of being mad at myself, I said, ‘wow, I didn’t know I could move that fast.'”
Then, on the count of three, Alec Carstens, campus recreation coordinator for the Center for Healthy Living, helped the Scotts unveil intramurals’ shiny new trophy: “Oh, that’s a beauty,” Ruth Scott said.
Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Scott for all that you have done for our campus. UNMC is truly blessed by having your support!
What a great way to recognize the Scotts for all they have done for UNMC! They have done so much for our students. This is perfect putting their name on UNMC's version of the Stanley Cup.
They are incredible people and this is a great story!
We are so lucky to have Mr. and Mrs. Scott as a part of the UNMC family.