STORIES FROM DAVIDSON COLLEGE
Andrews’ $5M Commitment Names Athletic Facility Field for Beloved Coach
screenshot of a photo on Davidson.edu
When Dave Fagg ’58 and Peter Andrews ’59 matched as “big and little brother” in Phi Gamma Delta social fraternity, it was the start of a lifelong friendship. That special friendship led to a $5 million commitment to the new Davidson College stadium and fieldhouse project, announced on Fagg’s front lawn.
Andrews’ commitment will name Coach Dave Fagg Field.
In the fall, Davidson Athletics launched “Athletics Done Right: The Next Step”–the field will be home to the Wildcat football and lacrosse teams and serve as a focal point for campus and the entire Davidson community. The initiative also includes a track and field complex, hospitality and classroom spaces, and more.
Fagg wrestled and played football as a student, serving as captain of both teams his senior year. He was named the 20th head football coach at Davidson in 1970, which led him to coaching positions at several other institutions before returning to Davidson in 1990.
Davidson president Carol Quillen presented a football to Davidson alumnus Peter Andrews (Class of ’59). Andrews and his family made a gift to the college to name the field in the new football stadium for former Davidson Football Coach Dave Fagg (Class of ’58). Current head football coach Scott Abell looks on.
“There’s double significance to this gift, and naming it for Dave was the easiest part of the decision,” said Andrews, who played soccer and swam as a Wildcat. “We are very close friends who have shared all the significant life events together. And, when he left coaching and became director of the Davidson Athletic Fund, he showed me how to give and got me on the road to supporting Davidson. I loved going by his cubbyhole office and seeing a photo of him and Barbara from their trips to visit us in the Bahamas.
Andrews and his wife, Vicky, live in Nassau, where Peter most recently retired as executive director of Bahamas Waste Limited following several other leadership roles in business. His children are also key to this gift—Cathy Andrews Schlei ’81 and Geoffrey Donald Andrews ’83, who share their father’s alma mater, and Philip Newton Andrews, who graduated from Georgia Tech.
Peter and Vicky Andrews traveled to North Carolina to surprise Dave and Barbara Fagg with the good news.
“Peter is such a great Davidsonian and an example for all of us,” Fagg said. “There are some who can, but don’t. There are some who can, and do—Peter is one of those.”
When the Andrews-Fagg friendship first started, however, Andrews didn’t always do as expected. Fagg recalls the days of Davidson as a dry campus and the fraternity brothers who needed “a little encouragement to behave.”
He was coaching before he was a coach.
“Peter might have needed a few reminders,” Fagg recalled with a laugh. “I had to give him a little speech about responsibility, and I could be sure if we had a dry party from 7-10 p.m. … at 10:01, there he’d be, ready to have a little more fun.”