NORFOLK, Va. – Michele Mulich stood before more than 200 of Old Dominion University's most generous athletic donors and implored to them to stop thinking of giving back to ODU as just a financial transaction.
Yes, donations garner you admission into luxury suites, tickets in prime locations and early access to tickets for postseason events. Donations also help student-athletes financially and the University's athletic teams to win.
But think outside the box, she said. Instead of just writing a check, consider forming relationships with student-athletes to help guide them through their careers at ODU.
Mentor one athlete per year and, she said, it will be one of the most rewarding things you've ever done.
She speaks from experience. Mulich has endowed a scholarship that is given each year to a female athlete who majors in technology.
During the 2022-23 school year, that scholarship was awarded to Miranda Byrne, a senior on the swim team who said Mulich impacted her life more than anyone other than her parents.
When they met nearly two years ago, they clicked. They stayed in touch. They began to talk weekly and then more often. They met often and Mulich went to her swim meets.
Pretty soon, Mulich was Byrne's ODU Mother.
When Byrne introduced Mulich at the annual Endowed Scholarship Luncheon this spring at Chartway Arena, she teared up. Mulich, sitting next to Byrne's parents, David and JoAnne Byrne, only barely kept her composure.
"Michele is an amazing and confident mentor and friend," Byrne said. "We have met so many times, at sporting events, at her football tailgate and even for coffee.
"She is passionate about encouraging women in technology. I learned a lot from Michele simply by asking about her experiences and about navigating a male dominated business world as a female.
"And she is absolutely the biggest sports fan I've ever known."
All true, especially the line about sports fan. Mulich is indeed one of ODU's most enthusiastic athletic supporters.
She has missed only one ODU home football game since the Monarchs began playing football in 2009 – a hurricane prevented her from driving to Norfolk – even though she lived much of that time nearly five hours away in Maryland.
Now living in Chesapeake, she attended one or more games, matches or regattas held by all 18 ODU athletic teams in 2022-23.
Miranda Byrne watches Michele Mulich speak to ODU donors.
Virtually every game I attend, and it's my job to cover ODU athletics, Mulich is there. She knows all the coaches and many of the student-athletes. She knows the stats and the standings.
And she cares deeply for her alma mater and its student-athletes.
She and Byrne have developed a friendship "that will last a lifetime," Mulich said.
"She reached out to me (in early 2021) looking for a summer internship. We started checking on each other, providing updates on our lives. She told me about a trip she made to London last summer."
Byrne ended up spending Saturday afternoons or evenings at football games, where she met Mulich's mother, Lucille, who is also an avid ODU fan.
"Miranda and I met for coffee Sunday mornings at Café Stella to talk about life in the business world. We talked constantly," Mulich said.
Byrne will put all that knowledge to good use when she begins work this summer for Citibank in Tampa, Florida.
Mulich was inspired to begin mentoring athletes by Thomas DeMarco, who was the first starting quarterback for ODU football and for a time, raised money for the athletic department.
DeMarco attended ODU on a scholarship named for Barry Kornblau, the Richmond alumnus who is one of the University's top donors.
"Thomas told me what an impact it had on him to want to make Barry proud and to not let him down since he was enabling Thomas to get his education," she said.
"That made quite an impression on me." And led her to establish her endowed scholarship.
Byrne isn't the only athlete that she's counseled. Other coaches have asked her to talk to their athletes, and she's taken the time every time to help.
"I try to let coaches know that if a student-athlete needs a mentor or a friend, I'm certainly here and available," she said. "If they want some advice or if they need to get off campus for a day, my home is always open."
Women's basketball coach DeLisha Milton-Jones said she has leaned on Mulich for help.
"There are very few fans I know who as are devoted to their alma maters as Michele Mulich," she said.
"She genuinely cares."
Endowed scholarships are a big deal to ODU's athletic program. Only a handful of Group of Five programs have had the kind of fund-raising success experienced by ODU and endowed scholarships play a key role.
The Old Dominion Athletic Foundation, ODU's fundraising organization, raised $18 million in 2022, the most ever for the University in one year. Most of that went to fund scholarships and facility improvements.
But an increasing amount of the yearly total is being donated to endowed scholarships – meaning a scholarships of $250,000 or more – and more alumni are putting ODU in their wills, a move that provides heirs a tax break and leaves a lasting legacy in whatever name you choose.
You might be surprised to know that ODU's endowment stands at $46.5 million. It's an enormous number for a relatively young university.
It's larger than any other Sun Belt Conference school and more than four members of the ACC.
That endowment creates $1.2 million in interest revenue per year. The interest is used to fund part of the more than $5 million that ODAF provides for scholarships. The principle is never touched and keeps growing.
Dr. Wood Selig, ODU's director of athletics, says ODU's endowment is larger than four ACC schools
"Our goal is for ODU athletics to be fully endowed for all scholarships," said Dr. Wood Selig, ODU's director of athletics. "We would need $125 million to do that. That sounds insurmountable but it's really not.
"We are adding about six new endowed scholarships every year. We have more than 90 endowed scholarships and 35 people have put us in their will.
"Much of the credit for our success goes to (former Athletic Director) Jim Jarrett. He had the vision and foresight to see that down the road, this is the key to the future."
He also credits the late Ed Fraim, who founded the Big Blue Club, which later morphed into ODAF.
"Jim Jarrett and Ed Fraim built a solid foundation," Selig said.
Mulich has made arrangements for much of her estate to be donated to ODU. Yes, she says, that may sound morbid, but in reality, it's always practical to plan, even for death.
No one lives forever, she said, but few people can leave a gift that will help college students for decades after they are gone.
She hopes, by the time she retires, that her gift will provide ODU close to $1 million.
"I've been very fortunate in my life to be a good money manager," she said. "My financial planners would prefer that I not give as much to ODU, but they get it. They understand how much ODU means to me."
She credits what she learned at ODU for much of her business success.
She was raised in Virginia Beach and when she enrolled at ODU in 1981, she was set on getting a business degree in information systems, which, at the time, was a major that few women chose.
"I didn't consider myself a pioneer," she said. "I took a class in programming when I was in junior high school and was hooked. That was my path. I didn't deviate. I never questioned my choice.
"It was only later in my career when I started to look around and realize that I'm the only female in the room."
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Family of the late Sonny Allen with ODU basketball coach Jeff Jones and guard Chaunce Jenkins
Her professional career took her to Nashville, Roanoke, Minneapolis and Southern California before she moved to the Baltimore area and eventually back home.
She has always worked in technology and was recently named strategic program manager of Allegis Group, which is best known for placing highly-qualified individuals in jobs. In her new role, she is planning a strategic initiative to replace the company's business systems.
She was career oriented and never married. However, as she moved up the corporate ladder, she began to use her off time to help others.
"ODU gives me that opportunity to give back, to be able to help kids with their careers. To be able to come out and encourage those kids, that means a lot to me."
Six family members of the late Sonny Allen, the former men's basketball coach who led ODU to its first national title in 1975, also attended the endowed scholarship luncheon – Allen's son, Billy, his wife, Lisa; Allen's daughter, Jackie Eldrenkamp; granddaughter Melysa Collins and her husband, Tony, and their sons, Ian and Parker.
Billy Allen, former ODU All-American Dave Twardzik and former Monarch radio voice Dick Fraim led an effort that raised more than $200,000 for a scholarship in Sonny Allen's name. More donations are expected to take it over the $250,000 mark before next season.
Jena Virga, executive director of ODAF, had ODU head coach Jeff Jones and standout guard Chaunce Jenkins sit with the Allen family, and for good reason. Jenkins will receive the first Sonny Allen scholarship next season.
When the banquet was done, the Allens had exchanged phone numbers with Jenkins and all hugged him repeatedly.
"We were so moved by the message from Michele," Billy Allen said. "We want to follow in her footsteps."
"We told Chaunce we're going to pray for him weekly and stay in touch with him," added Lisa Allen.
Mulich hopes to retire in a few years, and while some people plan on sitting on an exotic beach when they retire, her aspirations are a little different. She plans to help ODU find more donors and she wants to spend more time working with student-athletes.
And she expects Byrne to remain a huge part of her life.
"We have no doubt that the relationship will last forever," Mulich said. "I truly want to be there for her when she encounters different challenges.
"ODU is my passion. It is what keeps me motivated when I am working and going through the normal challenges in my day-to-day life.
"I can honestly say, maybe late in life, that I have finally found my purpose and my why."
Contact Minium at hminium@odu.edu or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram
Minium: Michele Mulich is More than Just a Mega ODU Fan; She's a Generous Donor and a Mentor for Student-Athletes
