POTSDAM -- Thanks to a bequest of $1.8 million received from the estates of Thomas G. ’60 and Sarajean Scott, of West Friendship, Md., Clarkson University is now addressing two major institutional priorities: a comprehensive retrofit of campus interior lighting and building a playing field for the University’s newest varsity team.

The women’s softball field, currently in the design phase, will be named “Scott Field” in honor of the donors. It will be located along the Clarkson Entrance Road off Route 11 at the westerly border of the hill campus, presently the site of Clarkson Field, which is used largely for intramurals and practice. Clarkson Field will be slightly relocated in the process.

Athletics Director Steve Yianoukos expresses excitement about the advent of Clarkson’s newest varsity sport and its new playing venue. “Women’s softball will be our 20th intercollegiate team,” he says, “and it’s terrific that they will be playing on a new field.”

In July, the University hired a head coach, Kristen McGaughey, who previously served as assistant softball coach at Bethany College in West Virginia. McGaughey is now recruiting Clarkson’s inaugural team, which will begin Liberty League play in the spring of 2014.

“In a real sense,” Yianoukos notes, “Scott Field will be a ‘field of dreams’ for our first women’s softball team. Softball is a popular sport at the collegiate level and we believe this will be received as a great addition to our athletic landscape allowing us to compete for female student-athletes who would previously have not considered Clarkson in their list of colleges to consider attending.”