LaiDlaw’s Legacy on the Football Pavilion
The words inscribed on a plaque outside of Room 210 in the Gryphon Football Pavilion are both simple and insightful: “A place for thoughtful discussion and decision making.” They are entirely appropriate when considering whose name is featured below them. Class of 1974 alum Bill Laidlaw recently donated to name the Pavilion’s boardroom and when the program’s brain trust gathers inside to discuss football-related matters, they can thank the distinguished former Gryphon for his ongoing support of the institution that helped make him who he is.
Throughout his professional career, Laidlaw has demonstrated those very traits written on the outside of the boardroom. He has been thoughtful – and his decision making is indeed impeccable at various stops in the corporate world and the non-profit sector. Laidlaw has held high-level positions in human resources (the Bay, Scintrex Inc., Royal Trust, among others), public affairs management (Director of Government Relations with GlaxoWellcome Inc.), and not-for-profit association management (CEO of organizations like St. John Ambulance in Ontario, The Ontario Community Newspapers association, and the Chicken Farmers of Ontario). He has also sat on a long list of boards to lend his expertise, taught, worked in politics and is currently the president of Burlington-based public affairs consulting firm Parkelaw Inc.
Before putting together that incredible resumé, he laid the groundwork for it at the University of Guelph, where he majored in history and played offensive guard on the football team in the early 1970s. He notes that those in the know suggested his future was in academics rather than athletics, though he still showed the wear and tear of a football warrior after a full high school career at Etobicoke Collegiate and those years in the red, black, and gold. Laidlaw admits he wasn’t the best student but at the U of G, he got a chance. And that opportunity that the University provided him played a significant role in his career and his decisions to give back to an institution that gave him so much.
“So many good things happened to me at Guelph,” says Laidlaw, a regular at Alumni Stadium games and a proud backer of both athletics and the arts. “I have always supported the Gryphon Football program since I graduated in ’74.
“I hope this donation will inspire other former athletes and alumni to support the university and athletics.”
The Pavilion is a unique building among Canadian university football programs. And with its official opening in October 2017, alumni have had the opportunity to step up and literally put their names on the state-of-the-art facility that Stu Lang built from the ground up. Donations can range from $10,000 for various rooms all the way to $2,000,000 to name the actual Pavilion itself, with all of the proceeds going to the Football Coaching Excellence endowment to support the long-term coaching needs of the program.
“We work with the donors to identify what type of recognition they might like on the space,” says Chris Moulton, the Senior Development Manager, Athletics & Student Affairs. “Every donor's motivation is a little different. The biggest commonality they all have is a passion for their experience as a member of the University of Guelph Football Program and wanting to support current and future players to have a great experience.
“Due to the nature of the facility's funding, with these generous donors supporting the cost of construction, all of the proceeds from the naming of spaces within the Pavilion go to the Coaching Excellence Endowment, which will ensure future generations of Gryphons have great coaching support.”
To date, the named spaces include:
Bill Laidlaw Boardroom
Nick Fitzgibbon and Mark Durigon Entrance Lobby
Tom Dimitroff Sr. Head Coach’s Office
Tricar Offensive Coordinator’s Office
Dick Brown Coaches Bullpen
David Lane Running Back Room
Dan Cornwell Linebacker Room
Harold and Jeannie Macdonald Offensive Line Room
1996 Yates Cup Defensive Line Room
Laidlaw is no stranger to supporting Gryphon Athletics and the University of Guelph. A lifelong friend of Stu Lang, he has shown a similar commitment to the institution by regularly donating to the Adopt-A-Gryphon program, naming the women’s basketball team dressing room, and naming seats in the pristine GGAC. Laidlaw has been on the board of the Lang School of Business for 14 years, along with the International Institute for Sport Business and Leadership. He recently took on the role as the Chair of the 50th Anniversary of Alumni Stadium celebration committee.
He was inspired to become more involved with the Gryphon Football program when Lang took over coaching duties in 2010.
“Stu was a breath of fresh air,” says Laidlaw, who has also donated to the Lang School of Business in memory of his late father George Laidlaw, an executive with the Steel Company of Canada and the person who encouraged him to attend university.
The University of Guelph academic and athletic programs have been synonymous with success. And the Pavilion is the perfect example of the physical resources required to ensure that tradition. Moulton says that whenever the Pavilion comes up in conversation, it’s referenced as being the best in its class.
“Whether you are talking to officials from CFL teams, former NCAA athletes, or U SPORTS athletes from other schools, the messaging is consistent that it has set the bar in terms of football facilities in Canadian universities,” Moulton says. “I know of several other schools that are currently fundraising, or in the planning process, to develop comparable facilities, which is a testament to how highly it is regarded across the country.
“It is my hope that when our student-athletes see the names of alumni or past coaches recognized on various aspects of the Pavilion it helps us to develop a culture of philanthropy within our student athletes. Obviously, there are only a limited number of alumni who have the capacity to name the Pavilion, or even name a room, but there are many ways that individuals can support the program philanthropically most easily through our Adopt-A-Gryphon program.
“I don’t think it’s a secret that a football program is quite expensive to run and we are reliant on philanthropic support to ensure our student-athletes have the best possible experience and that our program is able to compete at the highest level.”
For more information on naming opportunities in the Pavilion, contact Chris Moulton at cmoulton@uoguelph.ca. And visit https://www.gryphonsgive.ca/capital-projects-gryphons for a full list of available naming opportunities.
Written by: David DicEnzo