News and Events - Phillip '64
and Susan '64 Morse Pledge $1 Million to Resurface Football
Field
The generosity of
University of Maine alumni Phillip H. and Susan K. Morse has
come full circle.
Ten years ago the couple, along with
Harold Alfond, made the naming gift for the Harold Alfond
Stadium and Morse Field. Recently, when football Coach Jack
Cosgrove told them the turf had deteriorated and a new,
state-of-the-art surface would help recruit top quality athletes
and fortify the football program for years to come, the couple
once again jumped at the chance to help Black Bear Athletics.
Now the Morses have pledged $1 million
to replace the Astroturf on Morse Field with a new form of
synthetic turf specifically designed for sports like football.
Their gift provided the momentum for UMaine to begin plans to replace the Mahaney
Diamond baseball turf with a similar surface, and to construct a
new synthetic field hockey playing surface beyond the outfield
at Kessock Field, the UMaine softball facility.
UMaine plans to fund those latter two
projects with internal loans to be paid back from athletic
revenues/and or future gifts along with some University
recreation funds. The total price tag is projected at $2.2
million.
The Morses, who both graduated in 1964,
made their donation through the Boston Red Sox Foundation.
Phillip Morse is an owner and vice chairman of the Red Sox.
Their gift will boost Black Bear
varsity sports as well as the University’s popular recreational
sports programs, UMaine President Robert Kennedy said.
“Phil and Susan have once again humbled
us with their generosity and this wonderful, meaningful gift
will have a positive impact on a tremendous number of current
and future UMaine students.”
The new artificial surface feels and
plays like grass, cuts down on injuries and drains well in
inclement weather to allow year-round activity.
Phil knows something about the needs of
Black Bear athletes. He played first base for UMaine baseball
and has wonderful memories of his time in Orono. “We love Maine
and we love the University of Maine,” he says. “The professors
were caring and attentive and everyone was friendly. It was just
a wonderful place to go to school.”
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