Why I Give

Todd Schmitz CEO of Colorado Stars, Coach of Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin
“MSU Denver did a lot of things to help my career. Some were probably not intentional, but I would say that No. 1 moving here and being independent helped me. But then I also truly had a wonderful collegiate athletic experience and academic experience in the time I was there. I would say the experience MSU Denver gave me in and out of the classroom is invaluable. I was fortunate to get a scholarship form MSU Denver to swim there. I graduated with a finance degree and got a tremendous value out of my career from my degree. Running a swim team now, I may not use the degree the way most people conventionally do, but with swimming and running a team of almost 200 athletes, I can tell you finance is involved every single day. And, scholarships truly bring a diversity to the student population.” “I think that every MSU Denver student brings a different set of experiences to the table. When I went there, there was no campus housing. If you wanted to go there, you had to have a sense of adventure because you either lived at home or you had to find an apartment or house. That tells you the kind of students that were in my classes. They were a little more adventurous and willing to take a little more risk to reap the rewards and more so than other universities that I’ve dealt with.” “I mention MSU Denver to my athletes all the time. I talk about my experience as a student-athlete and the balance of academics and athletics. In my role as a swim coach, I deal with a population that wants to compete at the collegiate level. A student-athlete may put MSU Denver on their radar because they can compete athletically.”
*Bold names denote MSU Denver faculty/staff
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