Ubbo Emmius Fund new shirt sponsor for premier league team Donitas Ladies 1

The University of Groningen Ubbo Emmius Fund (UEF) is the new shirt sponsor of Groningen student volleyball team G.S.V.V. Donitas Ladies 1. The team returns to the premier division next season after an absence of 12 years, this time under the name of Ubbo Emmius Fonds – Donitas. Donitas has ambitious plans and to help it achieve these the UEF intends to raise EUR 15,000 each year over the next four years from alumni, students and contacts of the University of Groningen. One aspect of the UEF’s fundraising strategy is a crowdfunding campaign on Support the University of Groningen .

‘The board of the Groningen Society for Top Women’s Volleyball [Stichting Dames Topvolleybal Groningen] is extremely pleased with this momentous partnership. It will enable us to develop a stable environment that fosters a winning mentality in our players. We plan to stay at this highest level for as long as possible. Our ambition is to end up as pool winner or even to become national champion or win the cup,’ says chair Niels Westra.

Unique way to familiarize students with UEF

‘It’s fantastic that premier league volleyball can be offered to students in the great student city of Groningen. The city has once again confirmed itself as City of Talent. We are only too pleased to support Donitas in achieving its sporting ambitions’, says Tienke Koning, Director of the Ubbo Emmius Fund. ‘The University of Groningen has a good relationship with its alumni through the Ubbo Emmius Fund. The partnership with Donitas is exactly what we need for our student community. A top sports team is a unique way to familiarize students with what the UEF does: fundraising for research and teaching at the University.’

Top sporting university

Rector Magnificus of the University Elmer Sterken believes that with this partnership the University of Groningen has reinforced its status as a top sporting university. ‘Olympic athletes like Epke Zonderland and Rogier Blink show that the University of Groningen is the right place for top athletes. You can easily combine your studies and top sports here. The University of Groningen and the Hanze University of Applied Sciences firmly support top athletes, not just financially and with flexible programmes, but also through the Sport Science Institute Groningen, where the UMCG, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, the University of Groningen and the Municipality of Groningen conduct fundamental and practical sports research.’

About the Ubbo Emmius Fund

The University of Groningen established the Ubbo Emmius Fund for its fundraising activities in 1996. The Fund, which is named after the first Rector Magnificus of the University, seeks support for research, teaching and other University projects. The Fund is an Algemeen Nut Beogende Instelling and thus enjoys charitable status.

The UEF has an independent board comprising alumni from the University of Groningen. The University’s alumni are closely involved in the fundraising by the UEF office, making their networks available, opening doors to fundraising and making donations themselves. In 2015 the University of Groningen had about 120,000 alumni.

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