English Professor Gifts $10K for OSU Wheelchair Basketball Team
Monday, April 10, 2006
STILLWATER, OKLA. – Inspired by her brother’s struggle as a paraplegic, OSU English
Professor Dr. Elizabeth Grubgeld recently donated $10,000 for the university’s wheelchair
basketball team.
A gift announcement ceremony will take place in Stillwater at the fourth annual
Wheelchair Basketball Bash April 11 at 7 p.m. in Gallagher-Iba Arena.
Grubgeld was motivated to make the gift in memory of her late brother, Lester Edward
“Ed” Grubgeld Jr., who spent much of his life in a wheelchair. Grubgeld’s memorial
gift will benefit the adaptive sports program’s inaugural summer camp for youth with
disabilities. Since the team doesn’t receive athletic funding, the gift will also
provide scholarship funds, travel expenses and other opportunities for the OSU wheelchair
basketball team.
“My hope in supporting the wheelchair basketball team is that it will encourage more
gifts to the program,” Grubgeld said. “Current and future financial support will
help the adaptive sports program develop a strong outreach program for people who
aren’t as integrated into the available opportunities. By giving people a sense of
their physical strengths, we can help shift the focus off of their limitations.”
During a car accident in 1960, 16-year-old Ed suffered a spinal cord injury that
left him paralyzed from the waist down. The Grubgeld family lived in rural California,
where no adaptive sports or resources for paraplegic individuals existed. After the
family moved to Palo Alto, Calif., Ed began working at the Stanford University Medical
Library in 1967 and served as a library aid for 34 years. Due in part to health problems
arising from a lack of physical activity, he passed away suddenly from heart failure
in 2001.
“I strongly believe that had adaptive sports been available for Ed when he was a
young man, he would not have developed some of the physical problems that later plagued
him,” Grubgeld said. “Additionally, he would have had more opportunities for contact
with others who understood and shared some of the same issues.”
OSU’s adaptive sports program provides recreation and athletic opportunities for
students with disabilities. In addition to wheelchair-based sports, the program integrates
students into mainstream campus recreation activities, such as intramurals, outdoor
adventure, sports clubs and fitness classes. OSU’s wheelchair basketball team is recognized
by the National Wheelchair Basketball Association as one of ten eligible collegiate
teams in the country.
“With Dr. Grubgeld’s help, the adaptive sports program is going to provide scholarships
for a few individuals with disabilities, as well as the desire to learn by attend
our first summer wheelchair basketball camp,” said Stacey Pinney, adaptive sports
coordinator and wheelchair basketball coach. “Not only will this provide students
with outlets for recreation, but it will also help improve their quality of life.”
A gift announcement will be held at halftime of the Wheelchair Basketball Bash. In
addition to the wheelchair basketball team, men’s and women’s Cowboy basketball teams
and Stillwater police and firefighters will scrimmage at the event. The evening features
a demonstration of competitive wheelchair basketball, as well as information about
services and products for individuals with disabilities. Proceeds benefit the adaptive
sports and wheelchair basketball programs at OSU.
“I am a recipient of a past donors’ generosity, and have first hand knowledge of
how far that gift has enabled students with disabilities to be held accountable for
their own futures,” OSU senior and wheelchair basketball team co-captain Anthony Meadows
said. “I would personally like to thank Dr. Grubgeld for her donation to the adaptive
sports program at OSU.
The OSU Foundation is grateful for Dr. Grubgeld’s generous support of adaptive
sports at Oklahoma State.
The Oklahoma State University Foundation serves as the private fundraising organization
for OSU, as designated by the OSU Regents. Its mission is to unite donor and university
passions and priorities to achieve excellence.
For more information on the OSU Foundation, log on to our website at www.osuf.org
<http://www.osuf.org/> or call 800.622.4678.