Hall of Fame
Robert Hausmann '56 was the 2015 Distinguished Service Award recipient. Hausmann is considered the founding father of the Gannon Golden Knight Booster Club. In 1974, while serving as the Director of Human Resources at General Telephone and Electronics (GTE), he recruited two fellow alumni and GTE employees in the Erie office - Joe Gaeta '62 and Jim DelMaramo '57 - to help develop a fundraising plan. The trio started a club raffle selling 200 tickets at $10 each prior to the 1974 basketball season which sold out every year.
The Booster Club gradually increased the number of raffles sold throughout the years until hitting 500 tickets sold annually, generating approximately $4,000 for the men's basketball program each year. The program was so successful that former Gannon Director of Athletics Bud Elwell '55, as well as former faculty members Father Yehl and Father Speice, asked Joe Gaeta '62 to expand the program to raise funds for all Gannon intercollegiate programs. In 1986, the Golden Knight Booster Club name was officially adopted and fundraising commenced to support all of Gannon's women's and men's programs. Over these past 40 seasons, the Golden Knight Booster Club has raised over $1 million for Gannon Athletics and supports all 20 varsity sports at the University.
