FAU Athletics recently received a generous $3 million gift from longtime supporters Rocco and Mary Abessinio, through the Rocco and Mary Abessinio Foundation. The gift will be used to renovate FAU Arena, also known as The Burrow, and enhance our men’s and women’s basketball programs. The Abessinio Foundation’s gift is the fifth-largest to FAU Athletics in university history. The basketball court in the arena will be named Abessinio Court in their honor.

Rocco Abessinio is the chief executive officer of Roch Capital Inc., a $2 billion investment organization. He also is the founder of Applied Bank and Applied Card Systems, which grew to be the 10th largest issuer of Visa and MasterCard credit cards in the country. The Abessinios, through Applied Card Systems, are FAU Football Founders and have supported the program since its inception.

The FAU men’s basketball team had a great 2018-19 season under the leadership of first-year head coach Dusty May. The team clinched a spot in the Conference USA tournament and finished with a winning record for the first time since 2010-11. In addition to the men’s and women’s basketball teams, The Burrow is home to the FAU volleyball team, which had its most successful season since 2005, finishing first in the nation in kills per set and assists per set.

FAU is growing its brand on a national level with Unbridled Ambition^®, and successful sports teams are contributing to our overall culture of success. Generous donors like the Abessinios are playing a key role in that effort, by helping to enhance our facilities and by supporting our student-athletes as they strive for excellence in the classroom and in competition. Thank you, Rocco and Mary Abessinio!