{"id":4196,"date":"2025-01-31T09:00:38","date_gmt":"2025-01-31T09:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/?p=4196"},"modified":"2025-02-06T14:16:29","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T14:16:29","slug":"hayes-donates-1m-to-saluki-athletics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/?p=4196","title":{"rendered":"Hayes donates $1M to Saluki Athletics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jim Hayes Stadium Club to be named in honor of historic gift<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Jamie
Jamie Hayes, owner of Jim Hayes, Inc., and his wife, Netta, are donating $1 million to Saluki Athletics.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Jeff Wilson<\/strong><\/p>\n

With a $1 million gift, Jamie and Netta Hayes further strengthen their family\u2019s ties to Saluki Athletics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Hayes family has been a fixture around SIU since Jamie\u2019s father, Jim, first came to Southern in 1961 on a football scholarship.<\/p>\n

In honor of this historic gift, SIU Director of Athletics Tim Leonard has announced the naming of the Jim Hayes Stadium Club inside Saluki Stadium. Some of the funds from this gift will be used to revitalize the space.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Jamie and Netta to step up in this way says a ton about them and where we are headed,\u201d Leonard said. \u201cThey see the vision. They see the passion. They know how valuable Saluki Athletics is to SIU and all of Southern Illinois. This is massively important for us, and I want to thank them on behalf of Saluki Nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the premier locations on campus, the Jim Hayes Stadium Club will continue to be utilized by members of the entire campus community for important events and major announcements.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor my dad\u2019s name to be further etched into Saluki history this way is incredible,\u201d Jamie Hayes said. \u201cWe wanted to make a statement about how we feel about SIU and what the Salukis mean to us and this community. We wouldn\u2019t be able to do this if it weren\u2019t for him. I think he would be proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jim
Jim Hayes first came to SIU in 1961 on a football scholarship.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Hayes Legacy<\/strong><\/p>\n

After graduating from SIU with a degree in education in 1962, Jim Hayes moved to Macomb, where he taught, coached football and married his wife, Bette, in 1966. After taking up car sales as a part-time job, he found a knack for the profession and moved his family to Harrisburg in 1976, founding the Jim Hayes, Inc., car dealership.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad played linebacker at SIU. He had a great nickname, \u2018The Axe,\u2019\u201d Jamie Hayes said. \u201cFrom there, it was just always following the Salukis. He had a lot of great loves. He loved his family, the business, his employees, customers, and he loved SIU.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raising his family and growing his business in Southern Illinois, Jim Hayes made a point to support SIU through Saluki Athletics. Jim Hayes passed away in 2018, leaving an incredible legacy at Southern. The dealership is now owned and operated by Jamie Hayes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up going with my dad to basketball games. SIU has a history of great coaches and great teams,\u201d he said. \u201cThe time spent with my dad was always good. I have great memories of these programs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jamie Hayes graduated from SIU in 1994 with a degree in speech communication from the College of Liberal Arts<\/a>. He has long supported Saluki Athletics, including partnerships and charitable giving through his business, and been a fixture at SIU events for decades.<\/p>\n

He recently joined the Big Dawg Leadership Society, which recognizes donors who give annually to Saluki Athletics.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe success of SIU can do nothing but help the region,\u201d he said. \u201cNow, more than ever, it\u2019s time to step it up a little bit more. You\u2019re going to need more community involvement. You have to bleed maroon no matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jim Hayes Stadium Club to be named in honor of historic gift By Jeff Wilson With a $1 million gift, Jamie and Netta Hayes further strengthen their family\u2019s ties to Saluki Athletics. The Hayes family has been a fixture around SIU since Jamie\u2019s father, Jim, first came to Southern in 1961 on a football scholarship. … Continue reading Hayes donates $1M to Saluki Athletics<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,3,4,17,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-donor-stories","category-higher-education","category-illinois-higher-education","category-saluki-athletics","category-siu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4196"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4228,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4196\/revisions\/4228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}