WASHINGTON – The Georgetown University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics has received a generous $4 million gift from Ambassador David Welch (SFS'75) and Gretchen Welch as the family has established an endowed fund in support of the athletic director's priorities and a current use fund for new initiatives led by Men's Basketball Head Coach Ed Cooley.

"This gift from the Welch family reflects an extraordinary commitment to the role of intercollegiate athletics and the formation of our student-athletes," says Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia. " It will enable transformative experiences and provide invaluable support to our basketball program as we look to its future. We're deeply grateful to David and Gretchen for their generosity and their service to Georgetown."

Half of the Welches' gift is an endowment supporting special initiatives led by Francis X. Rienzo Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Lee Reed. The second half of the gift will support the operational needs of Head Coach Ed Cooley. In gratitude, the men's basketball practice gym in the John R. Thompson Jr. Intercollegiate Athletic Center will be renamed in their honor.

"We are immensely grateful to David and Gretchen for this significant display of support for the future of our men's basketball program under Coach Cooley's leadership," said Reed. "Their generous gift makes a profound statement to our student athletes, coaching staff, and greater community."

Cooley begins his second season as the head coach after a successful 12-year stretch at Providence College where he was named the 2022 Naismith Coach of the Year Award. With an overall record of 334–223, which includes time as the head coach at Fairfield University, Cooley says that he is excited about the possibilities at Georgetown.

"Georgetown has an amazing vision for the men's basketball program," said Cooley, who thinks of the basketball court as a classroom where players learn life lessons like concentration and discipline. "We want to give these young men an opportunity to live their dreams. Some are first generation college students. We will teach them life skills, for instance financial literacy, and offer them spaces for quiet reflection and study, which include state-of-the-art technology that promotes wellness."

Ambassador David Welch is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the Walsh School of Foreign Service. He spent more than 32 years in the U.S. Foreign Service, where he rose to its most senior rank as Career Ambassador, served twice as Assistant Secretary of State, and served as Ambassador to Egypt. After government, David had a successful career in private business with Bechtel. Gretchen, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Stanford University, was also a Foreign Service Officer for 32 years, rising to its senior ranks. Together they are committed supporters of Georgetown Athletics in general and the basketball program in particular— season ticket holders for many years.

In 2021, the Welches established the Welch Family Athletics Health and Wellness Current Use Counselor Fund to support a second mental health position for the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Their gift, administered by The Amato Family Head of Athletic Counseling Services Dr. Erica Force, has a direct impact on nearly 800 student-athletes.

"Our family is committed to supporting student-athletes and their mental health," says Gretchen. "Dr. Force and her team are doing important work in establishing a culture of cura personalis, or care of the whole person. We believe these actions will serve Georgetown student-athletes now and into the future."