CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. \u2013 Virginia Athletics and the Virginia Athletics Foundation announced today (May 20) that Pete and Jodi Lyons are making a transformative $10 million commitment to endow scholarships for UVA\u2019s volleyball and women\u2019s soccer programs, including philanthropic cash support, a VAF match, and a future planned gift. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Pete, a 1977 graduate of the University of Virginia, was an attorney, whose practice focused on U.S. and cross-border public and private mergers and acquisitions.\u00a0 Jodi, a 1976 graduate of the University of Maryland, hails from an athletic family, as her father played minor league baseball in the Philadelphia Athletics farm system.<\/p>\n
Since moving to Charlottesville, Pete and Jodi have become season ticket holders for several of our programs.\u00a0 Their relationships with volleyball coach Shannon Wells<\/a> and women\u2019s soccer coach Steve Swanson<\/a> and their staffs have been a driving force in their generous giving.\u00a0 The family remains deeply impressed by the caliber of young women recruited and signed by these coaches and they are fully committed to supporting their academic and athletic endeavors.<\/p>\n Half of the commitment will go to endow volleyball scholarships named in honor of Pete and Jodi\u2019s fathers, Bernard T. Lyons and Joseph A. Magennis, who were both successful athletes.<\/p>\n The second half of the commitment will go to the establishment of the Lyons Family Scholarships for Women\u2019s Soccer.<\/p>\n The Lyons hope that these gifts will inspire others and drive continued success for UVA student-athletes.\u00a0<\/p>\n Message From Kevin Miller \u2013 Virginia Athletics Foundation Executive Director<\/p>\n \u201cWe are deeply grateful to Pete and Jodi for their extraordinary generosity and vision. This transformational commitment will have a lasting impact on our volleyball and women\u2019s soccer programs, supporting our student-athletes today while strengthening their future for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n Message From Shannon Wells<\/a> \u2013 UVA Volleyball Head Coach<\/p>\n \u201cPete and Jodi Lyons\u2019 continued generosity is an investment in women, Olympic sports, and the future of Virginia Volleyball. What makes their support so meaningful is that it extends far beyond a financial gift. \u00a0They have become incredible friends of our program, student-athletes and families. They cheer from the stands, open doors for our athletes through their professional networks, mentor our athletes, and even welcome our team to their house for some amazing food, desserts, and hospitality. \u00a0On a personal level, they have been unbelievable mentors and supporters to me as we navigate unprecedented times in college athletics. \u00a0<\/p>\n This gift solidifies the future of our program and creates more opportunities for our student-athletes to compete for championships. \u00a0Our program is incredibly grateful for the Lyons\u2019 family!”\u00a0<\/p>\n Message From Steve Swanson<\/a> \u2013 UVA Women\u2019s Soccer Head Coach<\/p>\n \u201cPete and Jodi Lyons have been so supportive of Virginia Women\u2019s Soccer for such a long time now. This gift is transformational and will help our program for years and years to come. We have had some amazing young women come to Charlottesville and thrive here academically and athletically, only to go on to make even more of a difference in society at large in many different fields. This gift will help us as we continue to attract the very best students and athletes to Virginia, not just now but in the future. \u00a0 It is the generosity of people like Pete and Jodi that makes the University of Virginia community such a special one.\u201d<\/p>\n About Virginia Athletics Foundation<\/p>\n The Virginia Athletics Foundation (VAF) proudly supports the University of Virginia\u2019s 27 men\u2019s and women\u2019s Division I programs. Cavalier Olympic sport programs consistently rank among the nation\u2019s best, but their continued success depends on strong philanthropic investment. The leadership and generosity reflected in gifts like this ignite the spirit of Virginia Athletics, fueling championship pursuits, enriching the student-athlete experience, and inspiring the next generation of Cavaliers. For more information about supporting UVA student-athletes, please visit\u00a0Virginia Athletics Foundation<\/a>\u00a0or email\u00a0vafweb@virginia.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. \u2013 Virginia Athletics and the Virginia Athletics Foundation announced today (May 20) that Pete and Jodi…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":683127,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,561,82],"class_list":["post-683126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=683126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683126\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/683127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=683126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=683126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=683126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}