Bowling Green, Ky. - When Jim Martens came to Western Kentucky University as a freshman in 1968, his first sports experience was to attend a football game at the new stadium.  It was the first game in which Jimmy Feix was the head coach of the Hilltoppers.  “I loved the spirit, and I loved football anyway,” he said.  “It helped me feel a part of Western and the community – a feeling that I have to this day.”

Martens, and his wife, Eva, are building on that spirit by making a $100,000 commitment to the Football Enhancement Fund Campaign.  According to Tom Hiles, WKU’s vice president for Institutional Advancement, the Football Enhancement Fund has an ultimate goal of raising $10 million to provide scholarships for all Hilltopper Football student-athletes.  Martens is a member of the Football Enhancement Committee, the volunteer group that has been charged with working with WKU leadership to meet this goal.

“Jim and Eva have been loyal supporters of WKU and our athletics program in particular,” Hiles said.  “We are so grateful for their loyal support and this latest commitment.  Our endowment goal is ambitious, and when we are successful we will have built a permanent margin of excellence for our storied football program.”

Martens, a 1972 agriculture graduate, and his wife are season ticket holders for football and men’s and women’s basketball, and they provide support for the Hilltopper Athletic Foundation each year.  “Eva and I thought about how we could make a commitment to enhance both Western Football and the university,” he explained.  “Our gift to this program will grow and become greater through this enhancement.”

Hilltopper Football Head Coach David Elson said words could not describe how much those within the program appreciate this generous gift.  “As we continue to grow our program, this type of commitment and support is what has brought us to this point and will carry us into the future.”              

Wood Selig, WKU’s director of Athletics, agrees.  “WKU athletics is very appreciative for Jim and Eva Martens and their endowment commitment to our football program,” he said. “The key to our future financial success is via scholarship endowment which will allow us to recruit in perpetuity the nation’s finest student-athletes to the WKU campus. Jim and Eva Martens certainly understand and endorse that concept through their endowment commitment while modeling the way for others to follow.”

 Martens said all gifts to the program are important.  “In the eyes of the endowment committee, there have been some large gifts given, and we are thankful for those givers,” he said.  “However, it is important for everyone to give according to his or her ability to help build this legacy.  There are few things we can do that will make a lasting difference, and that’s one of them.”
Martens said the Football Endowment will ultimately carry on the outstanding legacy that has come down through Coach Feix, Coach Butch Gilbert, Coach Jack Harbaugh, and now, Coach David Elson.  “Though I was never on the field, I am excited to be a part of that,” he said.

More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.

For more information, contact Tom Hiles, (270) 745-6208.

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