IRVINE, Calif. – Concordia University Irvine baseball player Haloa Dudoit wore his gold CUI Eagles shirt with pride as he walked around the beautiful Strawberry Farms Golf Club.

It was easy to spot volunteers like Dudoit scattered across the golf course for the Eagle Golf Classic.  The Hawaii native was one of over a hundred current CUI student-athletes who volunteered their time with coaches and staff to help out in various ways throughout the day.

The annual fundraising event held on Monday, Oct.12 was part of a department-wide initiative to unify current members of CUI Athletics with Eagles from both the past and present as the school evolves into the future.

"It was a great day for the Eagles, and to have our campus community come together to put on such a great event was a great representation of what we are capable of when we all pull together," said CUI athletics director Crystal Rosenthal.  "The support of our families, alumni and fans was fantastic and we look forward to building on this event to continue to grow so that we can compete, lead and serve at the highest level."

A flock of Eagles wearing bright gold could be found all over the grounds, with members from all 24 CUI teams camped out at each hole to greet every foursome of golfers that passed through every tee box.

Dudoit and his teammates were stationed at the very first hole and had the chance to mingle with more than a hundred donors, alumni and parents of current students.

"It was great to see so many different supporters of CUI Athletics," said Dudoit, who has been a mainstay as his squad's starting shortstop and has made the Academic All-PacWest team every year he has been at CUI. "Sometimes we don't recognize the amount of support we have because many of our supporters are behind the scenes but being able to greet them and thank them for their support is amazing."

This event was a huge success for many reasons and featured a number of firsts for the department.

While this was the 32nd time the Eagle Golf Classic had been held, this was the first time all the CUI sports programs helped with the planning beforehand as well as the staffing for the day itself.  All the open spots were sold out weeks in advance with more than 140 golfers taking part in the festivities.  In addition, a Virtual Silent Auction was held as an additional way for golfers, families and alumni who could not come in person to still support CUI Athletics.  Packages up for bid featured sports memorabilia, assorted gift baskets, vacation getaway opportunities and unique golf outings at a number of prestigious locations.

There was also a lot of excitement centered around the first-ever Golf Ball Drop which featured a helicopter flying in and releasing 5,000 golf balls over the driving range to see which lucky participant would see their numbered ball find the bottom of the cup.  The winner earned $2,000 and the proceeds again helped benefit CUI Athletics.

Overall, the generosity of the CUI family connected with this year's Eagle Golf Classic raised over $120,000.

Kalin DeLuna, who is a senior on the Eagles women's lacrosse team, enjoyed her time interacting with alumni during the day as well.

"As a sibling of two CUI grads, I have always been told to cherish my time at the school," said DeLuna. "At first, I didn't realize how special Concordia is to those who attend and graduate from there. The Golf Classic truly showed me how impactful Concordia is. The alumni shared stories and explained how they will always come back to support the school. I thought it was amazing to see how impactful Concordia has been on them, and the lifelong connection they will have to the school."

"I feel it is extremely important to continue building a community and fellowship for CUI and CUI Athletics," added Dudoit. "Not just for current times but for the future as well. The more exposure our university gets, I believe the more people will realize our mission at Concordia and choose to support it wholeheartedly."

Just like the gold shirt he was wearing, the future certainly does look bright for Concordia University Irvine.



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