Kenneth G. Dixon has made a gift commitment of more than $5 million to UCF Athletics. It is the largest cash pledge ever by an individual UCF alumnus.\u00a0 In recognition of this gift, a 95-acre section of campus will be named the Kenneth G. Dixon Athletics Village.<\/p>\n
The Kenneth G. Dixon Athletics Village will be the section of UCF that is dedicated to athletic competition, as well as the health and well-being, academic services and professional development of Knight student-athletes.<\/p>\n
Dixon is a 1975 graduate of UCF and holds a degree in accounting from the school. Dixon first established his legacy at UCF 13 years ago by making a significant commitment to name the Kenneth G. Dixon School of Accounting. The athletics village commitment, when completed, will raise his total giving to UCF to more than $7.5 million.<\/p>\n
Dixon is the founder and CEO of Leland Enterprises, Inc. Leland is a diversified real estate company, located in Central Florida. In addition, Dixon is involved in various other businesses including homebuilding, lending, investment banking and land development. Prior to entering the real estate business, he was a Certified Public Accountant in Orlando and Washington, D.C., with the international accounting firm Price Waterhouse (currently known as PricewaterhouseCoopers). He is also a 2005 inductee to the UCF College of Business Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnder Dr. Hitt\u2019s leadership over the last 25 years, UCF has grown significantly in scope and quality,\u201d Dixon said. \u201cThe College of Business Administration and the Kenneth G. Dixon School of Accounting are doing very well and it is an exciting time for UCF Athletics. Danny White\u2019s vision of a Top 25 athletics program and his recruitment and retention of excellent coaches will yield exceptional results. My challenge to anyone who loves UCF is to pick your passion \u2013 whether it\u2019s business, engineering, athletics, performing arts or another area of the university \u2013 and invest all you can in one or two areas, so you can make an impact. UCF is worthy of your support.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dixon said motivation for the timing of his commitment was to help celebrate UCF President John C. Hitt\u2019s 25 years of service to the university.<\/p>\n
\u201cUCF\u2019s business students have benefitted from Ken Dixon\u2019s generosity for more than a decade,\u201d President Hitt said. \u201cHis new commitment will help enhance our athletics programs and provide the best experiences for our student-athletes for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
UCF Vice President and Director of Athletics Danny White described Dixon\u2019s gift as transformational.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t thank Ken Dixon enough for his generosity and support of UCF Athletics,\u201d White said. \u201cKen\u2019s commitment will be used to help transform our athletic facilities in pursuit of our goal to be a Top 25 athletics program. It will help us recruit and retain championship-caliber student-athletes and coaches. The Kenneth G. Dixon Athletics Village will have a major impact on the lives and experience of our student-athletes and the university community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dixon\u2019s commitment brings total gifts and commitments to the IGNITE Campaign to nearly $300 million. The IGNITE Campaign, with a goal of $500 million, runs through June of 2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the single largest cash commitment from an alumnus to IGNITE \u2013 the Campaign for UCF, this gift stands as a milestone and a momentum-builder,\u201d UCF Foundation CEO and Vice President for Advancement Mike Morsberger said. \u201cIt\u2019s also a poignant reminder that private philanthropy is one of the keys to sustaining and building UCF\u2019s national reputation. We are humbled and enormously grateful to Mr. Dixon for his gift of historic significance.\u201d<\/p>\n
UCF will hold a special recognition and presentation to honor Dixon at CFE Arena during Sunday\u2019s men\u2019s basketball game vs. Cincinnati. The game is scheduled for 3 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kenneth G. Dixon has made a gift commitment of more than $5 million to UCF Athletics. It is the largest cash pledge ever by an individual UCF alumnus.\u00a0 In recognition of this gift, a 95-acre section of campus will be named the Kenneth G. Dixon Athletics Village. The Kenneth G. Dixon Athletics Village will be the section of UCF that…","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":76240,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[5,6,26,27],"tags":[372,15761,202,4886],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-76239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colleges","category-community","category-sports","category-student-life","tag-athletics","tag-pegasus-briefs","tag-alumni","tag-ucf-foundation"],"yoast_head":"\n