Dr. Mandy Mills Dailey ’07 cherishes her Wofford College memories. Her favorite moments include being a student-athlete, attending campus social functions and Interim travel.
She and her family want to ensure that future Terriers have the same opportunities through the Dailey Family Endowed Fund to support the college’s track and cross country teams.
“Endowing a scholarship for the women’s cross country and track teams allows us to give back to the college in a way that hopefully strengthens the program and enhances the recruitment of well-rounded student-athletes,” says Dailey, an optometrist in Houston, Texas.
As a student Dailey embodied the definition of well-rounded.
She was a biology major with a minor in business, who also participated in various student organizations, a sorority and the admission ambassador program, all while lettering in cross country and indoor and outdoor track. She also traveled to Greece and Italy during one of her January Interim experiences.
“I hope that our contribution allows future student-athletes the opportunity to experience everything Wofford College has to offer,” Dailey says.
Johnny Bomar, Wofford’s head track and cross country coach, expects the scholarship to be a useful recruiting tool.
“This scholarship will help us greatly,” Bomar says. “By offering this scholarship to a deserving student-athlete, we can say you’re our first choice. It definitely gives us a competitive advantage.”
Dailey was a recipient of the C. Bruce Littlejohn Endowed Scholarship while attending Wofford. She and her husband, Zach Dailey, used matching gifts from his employer to establish their fund.
“Providing a gift to the college you love is a rewarding, gratifying experience, and it can have a lasting impact on Wofford’s financial sustainability for many years to come,” Dailey says. “If your employer offers a matching gift program, we certainly encourage everyone to utilize it.”
Zach Dailey understands and appreciates the impact Wofford had on Mandy’s life.
“I attended Vanderbilt University on a tennis scholarship,” he says. “Wofford has become important to me because I know how much the academic, athletic and social aspects of the college meant to Mandy. She made wonderful lifelong friends at Wofford, and we’re thrilled to be able to give back. Supporting our alma maters has been one of our goals, and we’re thrilled to see it come to fruition.”