The University of St. Thomas recently joined the Summit League in Men's and Women's basketball in 2021, and now the Tommies are continuing their expansion athletically following a generous donation.

According to the official site:

The single largest monetary gift ever given to a Minnesota university will bring hockey onto campus for the first time at the University of St. Thomas – and the state's college basketball fans will have a new venue to visit as well.

It's a $75-million-dollar donation from Lee and Penny Anderson of Naples, Florida, and will allow for the continued growth of Tommie Athletics.

Hockey is now on the horizon at the private institution which calls St. Paul home, as are better facilities for basketball, and more events in the future.

It is a historic donation for the University of St. Thomas itself, but also nationally:

St. Thomas on Tuesday announced the $75 million lead naming gift from Lee and Penny Anderson of Naples, Florida – two long-standing benefactors of Minnesota's largest private university – to construct a multiuse, on-campus arena in St. Paul that will be home to its Division I men's and women's hockey and basketball programs. The donation is one of the 10 largest known collegiate athletics gifts ever received nationally.

With Augustana right here in Sioux Falls debuting their new hockey program sooner than later, St. Thomas could be a natural rival down the road.

It's an exciting and inspiring development for St. Thomas, and will provide a ton of great opportunities both within and outside of athletics:

Aside from hockey and basketball games and hosting special events, the arena is being envisioned as the new home for St. Thomas commencement ceremonies, academic convocations, speakers, career fairs and other events for the university and broader community.

Read the whole press release here.

Source: TommieSports.com

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