Don and Lora Peters give $3.3 million to support training, sports medicine for student-athletes
Donald and Lora Peters have made a $3.3 million gift to Tulane Athletics in support of training and sports medicine for Tulane student-athletes, which will fund planning for a training room and medical treatment center.
The couple, who made the $1 million lead gift in 2020 that created the Don and Lora Peters Academic Center, hopes to make the highest quality of sports medicine care available to the university’s student-athletes.
The current training facility is housed in the James W. Wilson, Jr. Center for Intercollegiate Athletics. This room is where student-athletes undergo all pregame and practice preparation and illness and injury prevention, treatment and rehabilitation.
Tulane Athletics hopes to improve and expand current offerings with additional medical, hydrotherapy, rehabilitation and support space. The Peters’ gift will support planning for these upgrades.
“Our goal with this gift is to support a training facility that Tulane can be proud of — one that fosters and protects the health of Tulane’s student-athletes to the utmost,” said Don Peters, a Tulane graduate, Board of Tulane member and equity portfolio manager at T. Rowe Price. “We want to provide them with the very best facility and equipment to help them achieve their fullest potential in competition. Just as the Peters Academic Center cultivates their intellectual development, we also want to enhance their physical fitness and well-being. Lora and I encourage other Green Wave alumni and fans to join us in supporting this important initiative.”
Troy Dannen, the university’s Ben Weiner Director of Athletics, expressed appreciation to the Peterses, who now have given almost $8 million to Tulane Athletics for various purposes, from the “Graduated With Honors Wall” to the Green Wave Club and the Peters Academic Center.
“Don and Lora Peters have had a significant impact on the experience of our student-athletes,” Dannen said. “They have helped us improve physical facilities, provided lead funding for the Don and Lora Peters Academic Center and now have made a transformational gift to the support the fitness and well-being of our student-athletes. As a result, our student-athletes will develop in the classroom and have the best health and wellness tools to grow physically, beyond what they could have ever anticipated, because of the Peterses’ commitment to their experience. We owe a debt of gratitude to Don and Lora, and their vision for our future, and their commitment to executing that vision.”
Tulane’s associate athletic director for sports performance, Amanda Robinson — who oversees the department’s strength and conditioning, athletic training, nutrition and behavioral health units — joined Dannen in praising the gift.
“We are extremely appreciative of the opportunity Don and Lora Peters have given us to enhance sports medicine for Tulane Athletics,” she said. “A student-athlete’s needs widely range from initial injury evaluation to performance recovery. This gift will amplify comprehensive performance care by increasing injury rehabilitation and recovery space while further supporting injury prevention practices. We value our student-athletes’ health and safety beyond their time at Tulane, and we are excited to be able to better prepare them for increased competitive success and a healthy life ahead.”
