For the students

Anyone would tell you it was a no-brainer. 

Members of the Parent Leadership Council often say the reason they volunteer is to advocate for the needs of students like their own. So when council members saw photos of UD’s current decades-old health center and heard about the expanding mental health needs of students, they agreed to make the new Health and Wellbeing Center the focus of their matching donations during One Day, One Dayton. 

They paired student needs with their desire to support student excellence.

But no one expected donations to double what is usually offered by the council as a matching gift during UD’s annual giving day. As the April date approached, the dollar figure continued to rise as parents made impassioned pleas to their fellow council members to give from the heart.  

“The spirit moved them,” said Scott Lauschke, who with his wife, Tami, have been members of the Parent Leadership Council since 2022. 

Results are in, and the Health and Wellbeing Center is the fourth-highest fund to receive donations during giving day, held April 9, 2025. In total, 192 donors gave, including the council’s $107,000 matching gift to the health center, which is currently under construction and expected to open in fall 2026. 

Tony and Kristen Mercurio were new to the council last academic year, having joined after their son, Andrew, came to UD as a business major. Tony Mercurio said he was impressed by the coordination and effort during giving day. 

“The way Dayton presented it, [students] embraced it, the amount of money that was raised — all for a great cause — was phenomenal,” he said.

“It blew me away.”

In total, 6,567 donors contributed $2.4 million to a variety of University and student-focused initiatives. This included 1,063 first-time donors; 4,111 alumni donors; 629 student donors; 744 parent donors; and 238 faculty and staff donors.

The Flyer family coming together to build something great: it’s a no-brainer.