Donor Spotlight

Charley Eisele and The Eisele Family Foundation have long been interested in the student-athlete as a complete person. “Our interest is not just the student-athlete on the field or on the court, but equally important, the student-athlete in life,” said Charley. “We feel this part of the student-athlete experience has been underserved, the part that provides them with life skills that will take them beyond their athletic career in college, and serve them well as they pursue their careers in something other than athletics. So that's our passion, to help in areas where others have not.”

Their recent gift commitment will be used to expand MSU's Student-Athlete Engagement programs and increase access to these innovative events, programs, and workshops.

Personal development programming is the cornerstone for Student-Athlete Engagement with the goal to educate student-athletes in financial literacy using nationally recognized facilitators and local partners to provide relevant information on budgeting, investing, spending, and the importance of credit and saving. “With the introduction of NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) compensation, the types of education these programs will provide have become even more important,” Charley said.

Recent legislation has allowed student-athletes to be compensated for their name, image, likeness, or personal appearance for promotional purposes by a non-institutional entity. “More student-athletes will be in a position where they will have discretionary funds, and the skill sets on how to invest it, save it, or budget spending, have come to the forefront in light of these changes. It is fortunate that we are expanding these programs at the same time these new rules are being put in place,” explains Charley.

The philanthropic commitment from the Eisele family will allow MSU Athletics to expand the use of Game Plan, a virtual education platform that provides educational content, mentorship, and career services for student-athletes. Course examples include nutrition, professional development, mental health, and civic engagement. The Eisele Family Foundation wanted to provide more opportunities for all men's and women's teams to access this platform. “We asked that these programs be made broadly available to all student-athletes, as well as athletic alums, across all sports.” Charley said.

Charley feels that one thing that is often overlooked is that student-athletes are not professional athletes; they are young adults starting out in college and there is much for them to learn. “In the grand scheme of things, they haven't had a lot of life experiences. Many haven't had the opportunity to learn skills related to financial literacy. Given the recent rule changes, it is crucial they learn these skills now and how to apply them. I asked what it would take to really give these programs a boost and get them going, and going strong. We decided to make that contribution and we're really looking forward to seeing the effects as they progress. We're very pleased to be a part of this.”