Donor Spotlight: Gary & Cathy Collins

Gary and Cathy Collins are living proof of what education and the university environment can do for people.

Both hail from small Michigan towns – Gary from Fenton; Cathy from Berrien Springs – and they met and were married while still Central Michigan undergrads in the mid 1960s.

Their time in Mount Pleasant not only sparked a marriage that is still going strong after 52 years, but also a love for education, travel and Chippewa Athletics.

"We reflect back often to our time there, going to football games at the old football field behind Finch Fieldhouse, and basketball games at Finch," Gary said. "We were Chippewa fans from the day we set foot on campus. The whole experience was just a wonderful foundation of basic education for us to build our lives and our family around, and we're very proud of that."

The Collinses are long-time benefactors to the university and to its athletic program. Gary has served on the university's Advancement Board and the couple are football season-ticket holders and 1100 Club members.

They both recognize the important role that athletics plays in the overall educational process. The Chippewa Champions Center, the transformational facility which is now under construction inside Kelly/Shorts Stadium, is a particular point of pride.

"Becoming active donors was a no-brainer to us," Gary said. "We're proud to have watched CMU Athletics develop over the years and now the Chippewa Champions Center will increase our pride in the Chippewas.

"The whole involvement in sports, team sports in particular, is a great foundation to build on with regard to accomplishments and goals. CMU gave us a wonderful start, a great start, to build a family and a career; we've been fortunate to be able to give back and hope that others can benefit from the foundation that we built at CMU. We have nothing but pride in the university and what it has done over the years.
"The most important things in life are accomplished as a team, or a family, and we all have a role to play to achieve success. I think a lot of our success in the past has been based upon that foundation which we built at CMU."

Both Gary and Cathy earned bachelor's degrees from CMU and Gary went on to earn a master's degree. He built a highly successful career in the manufacturing industry, working in human resources. His career took the family – the Collinses have two adult children – all over the country and the world. Now retired, they split their time between homes in suburban Detroit's Troy and in France.

"We fell in love with France – the history, the culture, the people, the architecture, the food, the wine," Gary said. "We're red, white and blue Americans with maroon-and-gold blood; we just happened to like France and that's why we're here."

The interest in international travel, particularly for Cathy, was sparked when she was a CMU student and spent a summer in Europe in the 1960s. Today, the Collinses endow a scholarship geared toward CMU students who are pursuing a career in international business.

"That was an experience that really changed my life," Cathy said. "And if we can help a student have that kind of opportunity then that's what we love to do.

"One of the important things that you can take away from your years at the university is the friendships that you form. You have an opportunity to meet people from all walks of life, from all different areas, and it kind of opens your eyes to what's out there. For me that was a very important part of being at school. I grew up in a small town, the high school I went to was very small, and this was kind of an opportunity to open your eyes and see that there's a whole world of stuff out there."

Their philanthropic inclination carries over to athletics.

"We're a very committed CMU family," Cathy said. "At the end of the day it gives us great pleasure to be able to help kids get a good foundation, good structure, that they get in the athletic program.

"They learn how to handle success and learn how to handle failure. And those kinds of skills are with them for their entire life and so it's a pleasure to be able to contribute to that part of a kid's education."

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