Donovan Mitchell Pledges $12 Million To Greenwich Country Day School
Dec 4, 2020, 2:28 PM | Updated: Apr 18, 2021, 4:05 pm
Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz on court during the fourth quarter against the Denver Nuggets in Game Five of the Western Conference First Round during the 2020 NBA Playoffs at The Field House at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on August 25, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
GREENWICH, CT. – Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell along with his mother Nicole and sister Jordan, have pledged $12 million to the Greenwich Country Day School.
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It’s the largest single gift in the history of the school. The pledge will help the school achieve ambitious goals allowing easier access to athletics and education for prospective students.
Mitchell attended Greenwich Country Day from third to ninth grade. His mother Nicole was a Lower Elementary school teacher at GCDS from 2007 until 2019.
“I know how lucky I have been to have the foundation of my education happen here at Country Day,” Mitchell said. “This school has shaped who I am in so many ways, and I feel blessed to be able to give back and make the Country Day experience available for more kids especially those from inner-city neighborhoods or with backgrounds like mine. Over the past few years on my NBA journey, I have made it my mission to champion the causes of equity, social justice, and equal opportunity, especially in education. There is no better school anywhere to carry forward this mission and my family is excited to make this happen.”
Thank you does not begin to express our appreciation for NBA superstar Donovan Mitchell @spidadmitchell '12, his family, and their pledge of $12 million, the largest single pledge of support to the school in the history of the institution. Read more: https://t.co/Kso80BpMEd pic.twitter.com/jsbWAk0ZTP
— Greenwich Country Day School (@gcdstigers) December 4, 2020
The gift from Mitchell will create the “Mitchell Family Scholarship Fund.” The family also announced the “Nicole Mitchell Faculty Support Fund.” The monetary award will be made yearly at the opening faculty meeting and will be given to a teacher in each division in the school who have been at GCDS for at least three years, and have demonstrated the “passion, enthusiasm, optimism, and love for children always shown by Nicole Mitchell.”
Finally, the gift from the Mitchell family will allow Greenwich Country Day to build the “D.O.N.! The Determination Over Negativity Mitchell Family Athletic Center.” It will be a state-of-the-art gymnasium and will house one full NCAA regulation court with stands on both sides. According to the release, when the curtain is dropped it will house two full courts running north to south.
Mitchell recently agreed to a five-year, $195 million contract extension to remain in Utah. The new deal will begin next season.
