From The Desk Of Davis Babb

April 13, 2020

Fellow Tigers,

Greetings from Clemson University, and I hope that each of you and your families are staying safe, healthy, and well. These are indeed, unprecedented times, and our university, state, and nation are coming together to do everything possible to face the COVID-19 situation head-on. I also want you to know that our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by this weekend’s storms.

Our IPTAY team has been working remotely since mid-March as we continue our efforts of supporting Clemson student-athletes. While the physical doors may be closed, the IPTAY Center remains virtually open during the normal business hours of Monday-Friday 8 am – 4:30 pm to take your calls, emails and questions. As are workplaces across the globe, we are utilizing all that technology has to offer to keep us connected and engaged. Video conferencing, emails, online collaborative workspaces, apps to forward phone calls and more have been key to our daily operations.

As we do each week on Monday mornings, we continue our staff meetings with our entire team, along with representatives from the athletic department and alumni association. This is an excellent time for us to huddle, share topics from each area, and report on our game plans for each particular week. We continue to focus on various initiatives from our strategic plan including donor relations, communications, technology and more.

Our normal springtime routine of the Prowl and Growl coaches tour, the spring football game, Cub Club and Collegiate Club events and more have been altered. During this time, our staff has been focused on how we can continue to connect with our donors during this period of social distancing. For those of you who have children at home, I encourage you to visit our recently released IPTAY Tiger Cub Club Activity Center. The site is filled with coloring sheets, book suggestions and activities. For Prowl and Growl we have explored ways to connect while not being able to travel to you this year, and plan on releasing a virtual tour later this month.

While we can’t be together in person on campus to experience spring sports, I am excited to let you know that a new issue of ORANGE: The Experience is on the way to your mailbox! This April edition highlights our softball program and the exceptional start they had in their inaugural season. I hope that you enjoy this issue that is filled with exclusive features on student-athletes, coaches and IPTAY donors, as well as up-close and behind-the-scenes photography.

As you have seen, adjustments have been made to two of our upcoming deadlines. The football season ticket and parking application and the IPTAY 2020 annual donation deadlines have been extended as we continue to monitor the current situation. If you have any questions about the application or deadlines, please reach out to one of our team members so that they may be able to assist you.

It is of top priority to ensure the safety of our student-athletes, coaches and staff. As we navigate this unknown we are actively in conversation with athletic and University leadership. We are hopeful that we will be able to resume normal operations soon and look forward to another athletic season in the months ahead. We are exploring all options in regards to how this unusual time is impacting you, our IPTAY donors.

To you our entire IPTAY family, I want to say thank you! You are truly the “Power Behind the Paw” and we can not do what we do without your support. We look forward to being with you again soon. Go Tigers!