Courtesy Connecticut College Sports Information

NEW LONDON, Conn. — With a lead gift from Connecticut College alumni Anne and Carter Sullivan, Connecticut College will completely renovate the campus tennis facility this summer. All six of the tennis courts on the college’s south campus, which are used primarily by the college’s intercollegiate varsity tennis teams and members of the college community, will be rebuilt and resurfaced. In addition, the $300,000 new facility will be equipped with new windscreens and spectator seating.

“The new tennis courts will provide our students with a first-class facility for varsity and recreational tennis,” Fran Shields, the Katherine Wenk Christoffers ’45 Director of Athletics and chair of physical education at Connecticut College, said. “The tennis courts are highly visible on campus, and the renovated facility will help the college continue to attract quality student-athletes to our tennis program.”

Anne and Carter Sullivan were both involved in athletics at Connecticut College. Anne, a 1980 graduate of Connecticut College, is a former member of the college’s varsity tennis team and Carter, a 1979 graduate and a current member of the Connecticut College board of trustees, was on the soccer team. They both remain avid tennis players.

“My wife and I have four children who are involved in tennis – we are a tennis family,” Carter Sullivan said. “As a trustee, I have been involved in the college’s effort to renew infrastructure, so we decided to take the lead on the tennis courts to help get the renovations done.”

The tennis courts will be renovated this summer as part of the college’s 10-year, $53 million campus renewal effort. This summer, the college will spend nearly $11 million restoring campus buildings and renovating classrooms, common rooms and walkways. This summer also marks the start of construction on a new state-of-the-art fitness center, which is expected to be complete by the fall of 2009.

Additional funding for the tennis facility renovation project was provided by parents of current students and other Connecticut College alumni.