“Participation in physical activity and athletics serves as an opportunity for our student-athletes to develop essential lifelong skills in leadership, teamwork, and resilience.”
The Department of Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation (DAPER) provides MIT students with world-class facilities and instruction for an extraordinary range of athletic, recreational, and wellness endeavors, including 33 varsity teams and 25 unique types of instruction. Over the last decade, DAPER has expanded its footprint to enhance the student-athlete experience, updating facilities and adding new recreational and fitness programs that encourage leadership and promote wellness.
Among DAPER’s current priorities are a significant renovation of the Sports Performance Center in the DuPont Athletic Building—tripling it to 8,000 square feet—and endowing the sailing head coach position in honor of Fran Charles, who retired in June 2023 after more than 40 years as the guiding force behind the MIT Sailing program.
Sports Performance Center one pager
Learn more about the renovation of the Sports Performance Center in the DuPont Athletic Building.
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Sailing Head Coach Endowed Fund one-pager
An opportunity to endow a head coach position in honor of former sailing master Fran Charles.
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Support DAPER
Sports Performance Center
Philanthropic support will help us achieve the promise of the renovated Sports Performance Center for our student-athletes. Gifts of all levels are deeply appreciated, and naming opportunities—starting at $100,000—are available for the overall facility, the Speed and Agility Area, the Turf Area, and the Cardio Zone Area.
Sailing Head Coach Endowed Fund
In honor of former sailing master Fran Charles’s impact at MIT on and off the water, the Institute has created an opportunity to endow a sailing head coach position in his name. Support for this role will help to sustain the sailing program by ensuring a source of annual funds in perpetuity and will extend Charles’s remarkable legacy for generations.
To learn more about supporting DAPER, contact Candace Crabtree at ccrabtre@mit.edu or 617.715.2838.