Imagine a facility that allows the university to host major lectures, concerts and indoor graduation. Imagine that same facility can serve the unmet needs of our community — a place where you could have a sit-down dinner for a thousand people. You could have indoor graduations for local high schools or the community college. Where festivals, not-for-profit organizations, companies could host major events. This is the kind of gift that impacts broadly across the entire Northern Shenandoah Valley.” —Tracy Fitzsimmons, President of Shenandoah University

One of the university’s most ardent supporters, James R. “Jimmy” Wilkins, Jr. is a member of the university’s board of trustees and co-chair of the Athletics & Events Center Steering Committee. Wilkins’ father, James R. Wilkins, Sr., was chairman of the College Project Committee which pushed for university’s move to Winchester in 1960, and served as chairman of the board of trustees for almost 30 years. The 77,000-square-foot indoor athletic facility serves the university’s 21 athletics teams, the entire university community, and the local and regional communities.