Mount Pleasant, IA - April 25, 2018 - When word of the vandalism at the Field of Dreams reached Mount Pleasant, Iowa, sports management professor, Jonathan Evans took action immediately. Evans contacted the folks at the movie site right away. Evans offered his and his sports management classes assistance in restoration of the field from the damage.
“As a service learning university, we wanted to be the first to assist an Iowa landmark," said Evans. "Twelve students, representing four different sports and mostly studying sport management, made the two-hour trip to rake up the damaged field and lay new sod."
Weather postponed several attempts at Iowa Wesleyans offer to help out. On April 16th, the students braved the cold and snow to help remove and lay down sod, rebuild the pitching mound, and rebuild the home plate area.
Iowa Wesleyan, along with several minor league teams, provided manual labor and supplies to restore Iowa’s iconic Field of Dreams. Several of the students from Professor Evan’s sports management class are members of the IW baseball team.
Jack De Burgh, a freshman from Australia, had his dream come true to visit the field.
“Obviously, being a baseball player, everybody knows about the Field of Dreams. So it’s an actual dream to be able to come out and work with everyone,” he said.
“Our students continue to show their willingness to help out in a time of need, and it’s great to see how they live out the core values we have here at Iowa Wesleyan,” said Director of Athletics, Derek Zander. “I was able to help out yesterday and experience how well our students represented the University and themselves.”
Tiger Athletics: Iowa Wesleyan University strives to provide its student-athletes the opportunity to be successful in life and sports. Engaged in the SLIAC and UMAC Conferences, Tiger athletics is a proud member of NCAA Division III.
