Initiative: Stanford Athletics

It’s time to raise our game

Stanford built the most successful college athletics program in the country while upholding the highest academic standards.

But today, a historic upheaval is underway in college sports. The cost of competition has soared. The conference we called home is gone. The rules for student-athletes have been rewritten.

Combining sports and academics is more than a strategy for attracting rare individuals who excel at both. It’s a philosophy for building a culture of excellence throughout the university. Athletics is part of Stanford’s identity.

Stanford needs to renew its commitment to our 36 varsity programs; to the Olympic dream; and to the ideal of the student-athlete as a model for preparing leaders.

How do we make this happen in a way that is uniquely Stanford? We believe philanthropy is the answer, in partnership with a new financial commitment from the university. For supporters who want Stanford to remain at the pinnacle of athletic excellence, it’s time to raise our game.

Next-level greatness

Stanford student-athletes compete in the most successful sports program in the country while upholding the highest academic standards.

Alexandra Yepifanova, ’25
Tennis
“Because of the opportunity my athletic scholarship presents to me, I can wake up every morning and see how proud my father is of me, and most importantly, how proud I am of myself.”
Stanford women’s tennis standout Alexandra was raised by her father in Hollywood, Florida. She is a Pac-12 Tournament tennis champion and an ITA Scholar-Athlete and was named Pac-12 Singles Player of the Year in 2023. Her passion for finance, data analytics, and psychology has made majoring in science, technology, and society the perfect fit. She completed a program management internship with Apple after her sophomore year.
Andrew Luck, ’12, MA ’23
Football
Asher Hong, ’26
Gymnastics
This past spring, rising junior Asher Hong helped the Stanford men’s gymnastics team win its fifth consecutive NCAA championship, while claiming individual titles on three events. As a member of the men’s senior national gymnastics team, he was the all-around champion at the 2023 U.S. Championships. (This followed a third-place finish in 2022, and Hong credits his improvement to Stanford’s team-first approach.)
Hong is at the forefront of a wave of gymnasts—which includes his younger brothers Xander and Kiefer, both members of the junior national team—who are attempting to return the U.S. men's program to prominence.

Stanford athletics are unparalleled

The breadth and depth of Stanford’s investment in athletics has produced unparalleled dominance in the NCAA, resulting in more championships in more sports than any other institution.

individual national champions

individual NCAA champions

National Team championships

Stanford scholar athletes have been Rhodes Scholars

NCAA team championships (more than any other institution)

NCAA postgraduate scholarships awarded to Stanford student-athletes (more than any other institution) for demonstrating outstanding performance in athletics, academics, and community service

Learfield IMG College Directors’ Cups, awarded to the most successful overall intercollegiate athletic department in the nation. The cup has existed for only 29 years.

But today the game has changed

In the past, Stanford has tried to sustain excellence in 36 sports through a combination of athletic revenue and philanthropy directed specifically to athletics. Today, changes brought about by legislation and by the NCAA have caused tectonic shifts in the landscape of college sports. Other Power 5 institutions are investing at much higher levels than Stanford. We need to do the same, and the investment required is far beyond what current sources provide.

NEXT-LEVEL GREATNESS REQUIRES NEXT-LEVEL SUPPORT.

The future is philantrophy.

The future of Stanford Athletics is deeply important to the future of the university as a whole, and, in this new era of college athletics, we are committed to ensuring our teams are well positioned for success. This commitment requires investment.

Philanthropy will be critical as we chart this new course for Stanford Athletics. In partnership with the university’s financial support, we need philanthropic investments that will accelerate and advance competitive excellence now while also fortifying our core, foundational needs. We look forward to partnering with you to ensure the success of our coaches and student athletes now and in the future.

students behind open double doors work together at a table

This
is
the moment

for Stanford Athletics

Your support for Stanford athletics today will make a difference in how our student-athletes develop, and perform, for decades to come.

Download the full case statement (PDF)Connect with a fundraiser

Stories:Behind the athlete

Self-awareness, a growth mindset, teamwork, integrity, determination: These are essential qualities of student athletes and inform performance both in the field and classroom field to classroom, and seep into the school's culture. The net result is that they help make Stanford, well, Stanford.

Cardinal rules

Andrew Luck, ’12, MA ’23, reflects on what student-athletes get, and what they give.

Capturing success

We set out to document a day in the life of the Stanford Women’s Basketball team. (We ended up capturing life with Coach Tara VanDerveer, too.)

Explore more:Initiatives

Because Stanford has built excellence in an unusually broad range of fields, and because we’ve connected those fields so that they work together unusually well, we have the opportunity and the responsibility to tackle a wide range of priorities.

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The scope of Stanford’s vision matches the scope of the challenges we face. Because Stanford has built excellence in an unusually broad range of fields, and because we’ve connected those fields.

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