 | Donors who helped raise the funds needed for the top-to-bottom renovation of the Yale Bowl were brought onto the field during the halftime celebration at The Game. |
More than 600 alumni, parents and friends gathered in Coxe Cage on the morning
of Nov. 17 to celebrate a landmark for Yale football and the Campaign for Yale
Athletics.
T H I S
ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIPS
Renovation of Yale Bowl
celebrated at The Game
Capping nearly two-and-one-half years of construction, the ceremony commemorated
the top-to-bottom renovation of Yale Bowl, a national landmark now in its 93rd
season of gridiron action.
President Richard C. Levin and Thomas A. Beckett, director of Yale Athletics,
hosted the rededication event. In attendance were Charles B. Johnson ’54,
Joel E. Smilow ’54 and other donors who supported the renovation, along
with generations of coaches and athletes from Yale’s storied football program.
Harvard President Drew G. Faust was also welcomed to the dedication ceremony.
The morning’s festivities were a prelude to The Game — Yale’s
124th showdown against Harvard — which ended as a 37-6 win for the Crimsons.
A gallery of photographs chronicling Yale football and the stadium's renovation was featured in Coxe Cage, which was transformed for the rededication ceremony.
Paying tribute to Yale’s athletes
Coxe Cage was transformed for the rededication event, with a gallery of 10-foot-high
photographs chronicling Yale football and — to commemorate the Ivy League’s
most famous rivalry — prints of Yale-Harvard program covers dating back
to the 1920s. Thirty-foot images of the renovated Bowl spanned two walls, and
two full-scale replicas of the Bowl’s portals flanked the main stage, along
with a representation of the donors’ plaques. Guests were treated to brunch,
and the dedication program featured remarks from Beckett, Levin and Smilow.
Beckett thanked supporters of the Bowl renovation and acknowledged special guests,
who included Carm Cozza, coach of Yale football 1965-1996, and Jim DeAngelis ’35,
the last surviving member of the 1934 “Iron Man” team. Beckett also
thanked both Vincent Benic Architects and construction manager O&G Industries
Inc. for a successful renovation project.
Left to right: Yale Director of Athletics Thomas Beckett, alumni Charles B. Johnson and Joel E. Smilow — both Class of 1954 — and President Richard C. Levin are pictured here cutting the blue ribbon at the rededication ceremony.
Thanking donors to a rejuvenated Yale Bowl
In his official dedication speech, Levin observed that the Yale-Harvard rivalry
is built on a shared commitment to both athletics and academics — goals
that are supported by the Athletics Tomorrow campaign across the full range of
Yale’s sports programs. He expressed particular gratitude to Johnson, whose
contribution was matched by the Class of 1954, for funding that accelerated the
timetable of the Yale Bowl restoration, and he went on to recognize other top
donors present in the audience, including Harry Day ’70, the Jensen family,
Edward Toohey ’54, John Embersits ’58 and the Ehikian family.
Following his remarks, a grateful Levin presented Johnson and Smilow each with
a Lenox china replica of a “Yale Bowl” that was first produced to
commemorate the opening of the facility in 1914.
Levin then asked Smilow to speak as a representative of the Class of 1954, which
had a special place at the ceremony as one of the chief donors to the renovation.
A portion of the class’ 50th reunion gift, which totaled more than $120
million, was directed toward the project, rebuilding seven portals and the playing
surface within the Bowl, now named Class of 1954 Field.
Together Levin, Beckett, Smilow and Johnson cut a blue ribbon to mark the official
rededication of Yale Bowl. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the Yale Precision
Marching Band treated guests to a rendition of the Bulldog Fight Song.
Johnson is chair of the board of Franklin Resources Inc., and chair and director
of over 40 investment companies managed and advised by its subsidiaries. In addition
to his support for Yale Bowl, his gifts to Yale have included Johnson Field,
home to field hockey and woman’s lacrosse, and support for the Brady-Johnson
Program in Grand Strategy.
Smilow is former chair, chief executive officer and president of Playtex Inc.
and one of Yale’s most generous benefactors. Prominent in the alumni leadership,
he helped orchestrate his class’ record-breaking gift, and he recently
announced a gift that will support the construction of the Smilow Cancer Hospital
at Yale. He is also a staunch supporter of Yale Athletics, having funded the
Smilow Field Center, as well as four varsity head coach and two varsity associate
head coach positions. He more recently donated funds to renovate the football
offices and played a key role in the fundraising for the Yale Bowl.
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