University of North Carolina Athletics
Kenan Charitable Trust To Give $1 Million Endowment to Carolina Women's Soccer Program
October 29, 2007 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 29, 2007
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Trustees of the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust announced Monday a gift of $1 million dollars to help endow scholarships and the operating budget of the University's women's soccer program. Dr. Richard M. Krasno, executive director of the Trust, made the announcement Monday. The endowment will be made in the name of William R. Kenan, Jr., in honor of Braxton Schell, an attorney in Greensboro, N.C., and Carolina alumnus.
"The William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust is delighted to be making this grant for two reasons. First, it enables us to honor Braxton Schell, who has been a staunch supporter of women's soccer at Carolina for decades and an important figure in the evolution and administration of many of the Kenan philanthropies," explains Krasno. "Second, the grant provides a way for us to honor an athletic program that has not only been phenomenally successful on the playing field; but also a model of the best that college sports can offer to its participants, fans and alumni. We hope that our gift will enable the women's soccer program to thrive and continue to demonstrate that all college athletic programs can be a source of pride and excitement to the UNC-Chapel Hill community."
Schell has been a long-time fan and supporter of the UNC women's soccer program and he also serves as an attorney for the William R. Kenan, Jr. Funds. Schell regularly attends the team's games and has traveled with the team on overseas exhibition tours as well. He is a partner in the law firm Schell, Bray, Aycock, Abel & Livingston PLLC in Greensboro, N.C. Schell is a 1948 Phi Beta Kappa alumnus of Carolina with a Bachelor of Science degree and he received his Juris Doctor degree with honors in 1951. Schell served as the Associate Editor of the North Carolina Law Review and is a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He has been listed in "Best Lawyers in America" for corporate law practice for over 25 years and has been named as a member of Business North Carolina's Legal Elite.
"It is not an overstatement to say that Braxton Schell is Carolina women's soccer most diehard fan. He has supported women's soccer here since the early days of what is now a true dynasty," says Chancellor James Moeser. "Brax is a great friend and active volunteer for the University, so it's wonderfully appropriate for the Kenan Trust to honor him in this way."
The endowment would go to help fund annual scholarships for women's soccer at Carolina as well as benefiting the operating budget of the program in order to maintain the program at the highest level. UNC has won 19 of the past 26 national championships in the sport and boasts an all-time record of 643-31-18 in 29 years as a varsity sport. Carolina has also won all but two ACC Tournament championships since that event was instituted in 1987.
"The gift from the Kenan Trust means so much to the University and particularly to the women's soccer program. I think it speaks volumes as to the pride this University and the benefactors of UNC feel about not only the success of the women's soccer program but also the way in which Anson Dorrance and his staff have conducted themselves in building and maintaining a championship program," says Tar Heel Director of Athletics Dick Baddour.
"We are overwhelmed and so appreciative of the Kenan Charitable Trust for this remarkable gift," says Dorrance. "We are all incredibly humbled with the size of the gift and honored with the rationale. I have loved this great University from my first day on this campus as a young student in 1970 and consider it a privilege to be able to represent it still. Thank you on behalf of my staff and all the extraordinary young women who like me wear the Carolina Blue with undying loyalty and pride and have tried to show that every year."
