Be the Power of Purple and celebrate Holy Cross' 10th annual Giving Day on February 7 & 8 — because when you make a gift, you make an impact!

The Holy Cross Department of Athletics and the Office of Advancement have recently expanded the Athletics Development staff, adding two new full-time positions. This enhancement will impact all fundraising work for athletics and provide even greater support to Crusader coaches, staff and student-athletes.

As a part of this restructuring led by Michele Gagne Wertz '95, the new Associate Vice President for Individual Giving, Cara Abraham has been promoted to Director of Athletics Development/Associate Director of Athletics leading the development and execution of a comprehensive fundraising plan that includes annual support through the Crusader Athletics Fund as well as major and principal gifts towards critical endowment and capital projects for athletics. Leading the Crusader Athletics Fund, Raeann Harrison joined Holy Cross in December as its Associate Director of Athletics Development, while Steffon Mitchell joined the department in September as Assistant Director of Athletics Development.

"By expanding our athletics fundraising team, we are able to significantly increase our efforts to grow and sustain key philanthropic support that directly benefits more than 700 student-athletes," said Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Kit Hughes. "These moves will positively contribute to the College's living and learning community and the service we are able to provide our generous and loyal stakeholders. Cara, Raeann and Steffon — along with the support of our colleagues in Advancement — have shown a total commitment to our continued pursuit of comprehensive excellence. We look forward to continuing to work with them to inspire new levels of engagement, commitment and philanthropic support from our alumni, parents and friends of Crusader Athletics." 

Abraham, who is in her ninth year at Holy Cross, drives the strategy for all athletics fundraising, working with the College's fundraisers on comprehensive solicitations that include athletics priorities, managing a portfolio of major gift athletics prospects and overseeing the Crusader Athletics Fund initiatives. During her time at Holy Cross, the Crusader Athletics Fund has grown from raising $1.6 million to $3.5 million annually. She also serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the National Association of Athletic Development Directors (NAADD).

Harrison previously served as the Director for the McAndrews Fund for Athletics at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa. since 2022. In that role, she managed the daily operations of the annual giving program for Dickinson College Athletics, achieving record-high donor participation and total funds raised. She is a former softball student-athlete at Monmouth and Millersville University, the latter from which she earned a bachelor's degree in business administration in 2018. 

Mitchell previously worked at the University of Louisville, where he spent the 2023-2024 school year as a graduate assistant for the men's basketball program. He previously was a member of the men's basketball team at Boston College, where he earned a bachelor's degree in marketing. He later played professionally in Germany and Norway before going to Louisville, where he earned a master's degree in sport management in 2024.

Holy Cross is celebrating the Power of Purple Giving Day during Winter Homecoming on Feb. 7 and 8. In honor of the 10th anniversary of Giving Days at the College, a group of generous donors has put together impressive challenges to help ensure this is the biggest Power of Purple Giving Day yet. Crusader Athletics supporters Tom '71 and Jeannine Clarke have offered the following challenges to our community: 

• The team with the highest percentage of alumni giving will receive $25,000
• The team with the highest number of unique, individual donors will receive $25,000
• Each team with 100% parent/family household participation will receive $1,000

Crusader Athletics supporters can make a gift to any of their favorite programs or make an unrestricted gift to support all of athletics through the Crusader Athletics Fund. 

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