Project Editor: Joshua Vapenik, History 470: Digital History, Spring 2008

Helping Others

Nebraska Crew had a lot of help when it was starting out, and without the generous donations of others, the team would not have been able to begin. There is a tradition in rowing that larger, established teams should help out those who are just beginning with such donations, and Nebraska did not hold itself exempt from this tradition. Nebraska donated a shell to Oklahoma State University, though this act of generosity almost didn't occur. The four man shell the Huskers planed to donate was on display outside the Union, where vandals seized it one night and threw it into Broyhull Fountain. The shell suffered a cracked two-foot long crack in the stern, damage along four feet of one gunnel, and a broken rudder. The time it took to repair it took practice time away from the Oklahomans.

Creighton's rowing program was also helped onto its feet by Nebraska. Creighton launched their program in the Spring of 1977, and Nebraska Crew donated two shells to train and compete in as well as allowing Creighton the use of their boat trailer.

When possible, the team today still carries on the spirit of helping others. Most recently a four was sold to the new program at South Dakota State University to help them along their way to becoming a new program.