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Appalachian State Athletics Receives $10M Gift Commitment

Photo: Marie Freeman--courtesy Appalachian State University

Appalachian State University's athletics department has announced it will be receiving a $10 million donation. ASU alumnus Mark Ricks is donating the money to support the school's Mountaineer Impact Initiative.

A university press release says the donation is the largest outright gift in the school's history. The funds will be applied to scholarships, academic programs and the construction and enhancement of facilities.

The Boone university is home to about 450 student-athletes who compete in 20 NCAA Division 1 varsity sports each year.

Ricks graduated from App State in 1989. He currently runs an equestrian sanctuary for retired show horses in Virginia.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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