By Micah Friez
Published 4:02 pm on April 23, 2025
Supporters of Beaver Athletics showed up in a big way at the Green & White Dinner and Auction on Saturday, April 19.
More than 300 attendees at the Sanford Center and online participants raised an event-record amount of $230,000 throughout the night, which will be used to directly support student-athletes and athletic programs at Bemidji State University.
“Every dollar raised is an investment in both competitive success and the student-athlete experience,” said Jesse Katz, the Alumni & Foundation’s director of athletic giving and sponsorships and the Green & White’s coordinator. “This kind of financial support is crucial to building championship-caliber programs. It allows our coaches to attract top-tier talent and allows our teams to compete at the highest level.”
On top of the money raised, the evening was a smash hit. Participants bid on live and silent auction items, they won prizes, they dined with fellow supporters and they heard from university leadership — including director of athletics Britt Lauritsen, who donned the tongue-in-cheek but well-earned title of “minister of hype.”
The fundraiser also included the chance to hear testimonials directly from student-athletes. In total, four spoke about the difference that scholarships have made in their lives — allowing them to compete at the highest level and even serve the community — in a pair of videos that played at the event.
Click below to watch the videos.
The videos led into a Build-A-Scholarship campaign, in which attendees raised their bidder numbers to contribute money toward student-athlete scholarships at various levels. In mere minutes, donors raised $45,500 for student-athlete scholarships through Build-A-Scholarship alone.
“The support and enthusiasm at the Green & White was outstanding — from a packed arena of passionate donors to an active online community bidding and helping raise funds for Beaver Athletics,” said Katz. “That kind of energy is special. It reflects a deep pride in BSU and a true commitment to our student-athletes. And their impact goes far beyond fundraising — it fuels our programs, enhances the student-athlete experience and strengthens the entire Beaver Athletics family.”
The next edition of the biennial Green & White is scheduled for the spring of 2027.
To make a new gift to Beaver Athletics today and help bring BSU closer to its next championship, click the button below. For more information on athletic giving, contact Katz at jesse.katz@bemidjistate.edu or 218-755-2827.
