BATON ROUGE – Tiger Athletic Foundation honored the Rathjen and Rutland families this weekend with a ribbon cutting ceremony that took place Friday night outside of Gate 8 of Tiger Stadium. The ceremony was held to unveil the naming of the gate in their honor.
The Rathjen & Rutland Families Gate represents a million dollars of support to LSU Athletics! Family members include some former Tiger letterwinners: Craig Rathjen (LSU Football 83-85), Donna Rogers Rathjen (LSU Gymnastics 83-85) and James “Pepper” Rutland (LSU Football 70-72).
Giving back is nothing new for these former letterwinners, both families have returned to their alma mater to serve as ambassadors and supporters on numerous occasions. They have taken part in several philanthropic activities over the years that have benefited LSU, LSU Athletics, TAF and the Baton Rouge Community.
The Rutland Family was instrumental in the founding of the Miracle League at Cypress Mounds, a nonprofit organization created to provide opportunities for children with disabilities to play baseball, regardless of their abilities. They have also been major contributors to the LSU College of Engineering.
Along with their dedication to supporting LSU, the Rathjen Family has cultivated a passion for supporting their home town of Houston. Active in the local community, Craig and Donna have made it their mission to support the Houston area youth by supporting the Texas Children’s Hospital, CHRISTUS Healthcare and Juvenile Diabetes along with Houston SPCA, University of Houston Athletics, Rice University Athletics, and the American Heart Association.
When asked why they choose to give back to LSU athletics, both Pepper Rutland and Rathjens commented on what it meant to them to be an LSU student-athlete and their desire to continue the great traditions at LSU. “It is important that our student-athletes have every opportunity to succeed on and off the field. We want to make sure that our athletic facilities are top notch to ensure the future success of our young men and women,” Rutland noted. Craig and Donna Rathjen echoed Pepper’s sentiments, “As former LSU athletes, we both believe that our investment will ultimately impact future generations of Tigers, and that is important to us.”