Ex-football player makes $150K gift to WCU athletics facilities after tour reveals few upgrades in 40 years
John Martin prepares to block during WCU鈥檚 33-20 victory over Marshall in 1986.
By Bill Studenc
When John S. Martin returns to 甜瓜视频app on Saturdays in the fall to watch a college football game, the former four-year starter on the Catamount offensive line notices that E.J. Whitmire Stadium looks much like it did during his playing days in the late 1980s.
That鈥檚 why Martin, a 1990 graduate of WCU with a bachelor's degree in business law who now serves as principal adviser with the CAPTRUST financial advisory firm in Raleigh, is making gifts and pledges totaling $150,000 to help improve athletics facilities at his alma mater.
鈥淭he facilities really haven鈥檛 changed at all since I was a student-athlete,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he locker rooms are a little nicer now, but that鈥檚 about it. We have a long way to go to catch up. The stadium is in big, big need of repair. The same concrete foundation that was poured back in the 1970s when the stadium was built is still there, and it鈥檚 past time for an upgrade.鈥�
As a current member of the WCU Foundation Board of Directors and past member of the Board of Visitors, Martin has gone behind the scenes for repeated firsthand looks at the state of all of the university鈥檚 athletics infrastructure.
鈥淏etween the Board of Visitors and the Foundation Board, I got to tour and see all of the sports teams鈥� facilities 鈥� not just the football stadium, but seeing where track and field is housed at the old Camp Lab Gymnasium. Frankly, it鈥檚 pitiful. We have so many needs athletically. I know that there are other big needs throughout the university, but it really showed me what needs to be done for athletics,鈥� said Martin, who chairs the Foundation Board鈥檚 finance and audit committee.
鈥淚鈥檝e come to realize the need and just how woeful our facilities are. We鈥檝e got the ultimate canvas to paint on in Cullowhee with the Blue Ridge Mountains as our backdrop. We are going to need everybody pulling together, but we can do it. We鈥檒l be able to do even bigger and better things,鈥� he said.
Martin鈥檚 contributions are part of WCU鈥檚 $75 million comprehensive fundraising campaign titled 鈥淔ill the Western Sky.鈥� The campaign has a significant focus on raising money to support enhancements to athletics facilities, with a goal of raising at least $30 million in philanthropic gifts to support those specific upgrades.
鈥淛ohn鈥檚 passion for Western Carolina to be great is as deep as it was during his playing days,鈥� said Alex Gary, WCU director of athletics. 鈥淲e are so thankful for his continued leadership and support of Catamount Athletics through this most recent commitment.鈥�
Recruited by legendary coach Bob Waters, Martin came to WCU on a football scholarship and, after taking a medical redshirt his first year, became a four-year starter as left offensive tackle. 鈥淚 was too skinny to play offensive line in college, but I think I was given the opportunity because I played really hard, I had good technique, and they figured I would bulk up,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 played for four years for Coach Waters. It was just one of the greatest blessings of my life.鈥�
John Martin currently serves on the WCU Foundation Board of Directors.
Martin began making contributions to the Catamount Club and other WCU athletics areas shortly after graduating, increasing his philanthropy as he progressed in his career. But it was a meeting with then-Chancellor David Belcher that led to his first large gift. In 2017, he made gifts totaling $25,000 to establish the John S. Martin Football Endowed Scholarship to provide financial support for student-athletes on the Catamount football team.
鈥淚鈥檝e always felt a need to give back in consideration of the opportunities that Western gave to me, but what really jolted me and got me jumpstarted back to Western was David Belcher,鈥� Martin said. 鈥淗e understood that Western needed to begin raising money and needed to start adding money to our endowment.鈥�
During Belcher鈥檚 tenure, the university embarked upon only its second comprehensive fundraising campaign. Titled 鈥淟ead the Way,鈥� that effort focused on raising money for endowed scholarships to help a larger number of deserving students be able to meet the costs of a college education. The current campaign is WCU鈥檚 first with a significant focus on support for athletics.
鈥淎thletics are important. They are the front porch of the house. It helps prime the pump to do other things that we want to do academically and in terms of research,鈥� Martin said.
Among the priorities of the comprehensive fundraising campaign are expansions for strength and conditioning, sports medicine and academic space for student-athletes. Updates to E.J. Whitmire Stadium will include a new press box, premium space for fans, a rebuilt east concourse, football offices and meeting space, and a new football locker room. The Catamounts will look to vacate Camp Lab Gymnasium and open a new facility to support the golf, track and field, and women鈥檚 soccer programs. Other improvements are in the master plan as well and will benefit all 16 Catamount athletics teams.
鈥淚 truly can see around the corner, and I see what Western is getting ready to do and what we鈥檙e about to become. We鈥檙e about to become a championship-caliber university in terms of athletics. I feel like we鈥檙e already well on our way academically,鈥� Martin said.
鈥淲estern is in a very, very key, prime position. If you鈥檙e somebody who wants to get on the bandwagon before it takes off, now is the time to get involved in Western Carolina. It is getting ready to blow up in a beautiful way,鈥� he said.
Martin pointed to recent successes in Catamount athletics, including the women鈥檚 golf team, which collected four team championships during the 2022-2023 season and accepted an invitation to play in a postseason tournament, and the women鈥檚 soccer team, which won regular season and Southern Conference tournament championships in 2023.
鈥淲ith Alex Gary, we鈥檙e making fantastic decisions from a personnel standpoint. (Football coach} Kerwin Bell is outstanding, and I鈥檓 so pleased with the job he鈥檚 doing. (Men鈥檚 basketball coach) Justin Gray is magnificent,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e making some really, really good personnel decisions, and with the Fill the Western Sky campaign, we鈥檙e going to be raising the money to have the facilities to match that excellence. When that happens, get on board or get out of the way.鈥�
Martin encouraged fellow alumni and former student-athletes to participate in the Fill the Western Sky campaign.
鈥淚f you鈥檝e been out of Western for one or two years, get into the habit of giving. Saving for your retirement is a habit. Exercise is a habit. Eating right is a habit. Feeding the cats is a habit. You have to feed the cats. If you can just get into that rhythm of giving back early on and then do so each year, then as you can, challenge yourself to do more,鈥� he said.
鈥淚f I have my way, this is just the beginning for me,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 intend to do a lot more for Western as I grow and as I get older, because it doesn鈥檛 end. Western is going to need the aid. It鈥檚 going to take all of us. It鈥檚 going to take the entire alumni base.鈥�
For more information about how to support the Catamount athletics program, contact Julie Miller, associate athletics director for development, at 828-227-3084 or visit .
