Breaking the history record, Quinnipiac raised $1,172,116 this year in the Bobcat Challenge. The Bobcat Challenge is an annual fundraising event for Quinnipiac’s Division I athletic programs that takes place on Oct. 21 and 22.
Last year over $1,030,000 was raised.
Quinnipiac has over 450 student-athletes and 21 Division I teams.
The event included family, friends, students, alumni and faculty. Anyone can donate to one or multiple sports teams to upgrade uniforms, improve nutritional support, reduce travel expenses and more. Teams compete to see who can raise the most money, making them the Bobcat Challenge champions.
To encourage donations, those who donated $50 or more could receive a stainless steel mug and those who donated $150 or more could receive a duffle bag, while supplies lasted. These gifts could also be waived for the full donations to go to the sports team.
“Personally, I think the Bobcat Challenge is an amazing initiative because it unites all of Quinnipiac Athletics,” men’s ice hockey junior forward Matthew McGroarty said. “Helping our programs go above and beyond to give student-athletes the best opportunity to succeed.”
Men’s ice hockey raised $35,801 in total. The donations will help to fund a trip in 2027 to Belfast, Ireland, where the program will compete in the Friendship Four. McGroarty believes this to be “a once in a lifetime experience for everyone involved.”
This year, Quinnipiac reached $500,000 across 1,000 donors in less than 24 hours for the first time in school history.
2025 is the second year in a row where over $1 million was raised.
Women’s softball raised $25,530.
“With the money that the softball team raised we are using it to play in Vegas for a tournament,” freshman infielder CJ Harris said. “It is really important to our seniors this year because a majority of them are from the West Coast. We will also use the money for new equipment as well as possibly field improvements.”
Harris explained how she came from a high school that didn’t have a lot of fundraising opportunities. She said it is “heartwarming” to see how many people want to help college athletics and how much they care.
Quinnipiac also included clubs such as the IceCats and the Pep Band during this challenge. These clubs are key to motivating the Bobcats and cheering them on during the games. The IceCats raised almost $4,000, and the Pep Band hit nearly $7,000.
At the end of the challenge, donor affiliations were 21% alumni, 25% students, 6% faculty/staff, 34% families/parents, 1% legacy families and 10% friends/corporate partners.
Hockey alumnus, Gill Gallagher, created a challenge for women’s ice hockey. This challenge involves making a gift that highlights your number. For instance, No. 5 is equal to $55, or No. 34 is equal to $334. When five other alums do this, Gallagher matches it with $1,000.09 because her jersey number was No. 9. There were so many challenges for each sport and many were completed.
“I’m so grateful to be part of such an incredible program and university,” McGroarty said.
