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Most of the Cruises\u2019 gift\u2014$1.5 million\u2014will create the Mark \u201981 \u201984 & Sue \u201984 Cruise Endowed Scholarship program. The fund will provide an annual scholarship to a university student-athlete, preferably a football player, from within the area of Brockton, Massachusetts (Cruise\u2019s hometown). Individuals displaying the characteristics of a blue-collar community\u2014grit, determination, and pride\u2014and who demonstrate financial need and academic and athletic achievement are who will benefit from this scholarship. Specifics on scholarship amounts and allocations will be announced at a later date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Subject to approval by the URI Board of Trustees and the Rhode Island General Assembly, the football practice field adjacent to the Ryan Center and Meade Stadium will bear the name \u201cMark S. Cruise \u201981 \u201984 Football Practice Field.\u201d The naming rights gift is in honor of past URI coaches Peter Adrian G\u201972 and Fazio Bagnoli, both of whom had a tremendous impact on Cruise\u2019s life and experience at the University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The $500,000 collected from the naming rights will support URI\u2019s renovations to the football locker rooms and to Meade Stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis generous gift from Mark and Sue Cruise sends a signal nationally that donors see value in both URI and our football program. They want to invest in the University, and help student-athletes succeed on the field and in the classroom,\u201d said Mark Antonucci, the URI Foundation<\/a>\u2019s CEO and vice president for advancement. \u201cThe football program\u2019s recent on-field success, plus having a local URI hall of fame athlete give back to the school, creates a perfect storm in helping the football program remain highly competitive within an ever-evolving college athletics landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMark and Sue Cruise\u2019s gift is a powerful testament to the meaningful experiences student-athletes can have at the University of Rhode Island,\u201d URI Interim Athletic Director Brittney Miles said. \u201cMark understands what it means to get a scholarship to come play here and shaping who he is speaks volumes to help us maintain the primary purpose and goal to succeed in life after graduating. This will have a major impact for many generations of football players here, and we are so grateful for their significant contribution and ongoing support for URI.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gridiron legend pays it forward<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Coming from a large family with limited means, Cruise fully understands the value of a college scholarship. Cruise recalls his father, who worked for the New England Telephone Company at the time, telling his son that he was going to college and \u201chad to figure it out\u201d on making that happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When it came time to decide on a college, URI offered Cruise a full scholarship to play football in Kingston, and Cruise flourished. Starting as a true freshman and every game of his four-year career, Cruise was selected as the team\u2019s Most Valuable Player by the Providence Grid Iron Club in 1980 during his senior season. The co-captain also earned second-team All-Yankee Conference while recording 71 tackles and three interceptions that year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cruise, who signed free-agent contracts with the New England Patriots and Dallas Cowboys, was also inducted into the URI Athletic Hall of Fame<\/a> in 2002. Professionally, Cruise founded the Virtus Group in 2003, a financial consulting firm based in Providence, and has more than 40 years\u2019 experience helping families achieve their financial goals and values. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After he and Sue focused on raising their family\u2014also active in youth athletics\u2014Cruise about a decade ago began repaying his alma mater the scholarship he earned from URI as he promised in his estate plan, he says. He felt the best way to aid URI was to provide scholarship funding and give student-athletes with limited financial means the opportunity to succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI know it\u2019s not easy to put food on the table, let alone send kids to college,\u201d Cruise said. \u201cI also know URI will allocate the funds to those kids in need who have a desire to work hard and thrive. I also hope this scholarship creates a multiplier effect where other alumni, friends and former student-athletes can help these students in need in their own way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sue Cruise, described by Mark as the \u201cglue\u201d of the family, double majored in Education and Communicative Disorders at URI before pursuing her Master\u2019s degree in Speech Pathology at Penn State. Following her studies, she returned to Rhode Island, working at both Newington Children\u2019s Hospital in Connecticut and Rhode Island Hospital as a speech pathologist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the job that most called to Sue was that of a mother\u2014at the birth of their first child, James. Mark and Sue Cruise decided together that she would focus all her efforts on raising their children full-time. Soon after came Ken, Matt and Carolyn all now have grown and created their own marks on the world. Mark credits Sue\u2019s selflessness as the reason for his professional success and together they made Rhode Island home, and together the Cruise family put forth this gift to the University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maintaining momentum<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The gift not only comes from a Rhody football legend and his wife, but it also builds on the positive momentum that URI\u2019s football program has gained over the last six seasons both on the field and off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n URI football is coming off its most successful season in four decades. In 2025, the Rams compiled an 11-3 overall record, including an undefeated 8-0 record in Coastal Athletic Association conference play\u2014winning the regular-season conference championship<\/a> for a second year in a row. The football team also earned a NCAA FCS Division I Tournament berth for a second straight season and advanced to the tournament\u2019s second round. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, URI football under Head Coach Jim Fleming won 10 or more games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 1984 and 1985 seasons. Since 2020, URI football has netted a 43-16 overall record and has compiled six straight winning seasons, the longest streak in the program\u2019s 131-year history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Fleming says Cruise\u2019s support to build a winning football program at URI dates back several years, with Miles noting that Cruise has mentored student-athletes to excel in life. Fleming uses Cruise\u2019s success story on recruiting trips as an example to show prospective student-athletes that hard work, perseverance and dedication will carry over into the business world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo me, Mark Cruise represents everything that defines the University of Rhode Island football experience. He committed fully to the University, excelled on the field, and earned a high-quality education,\u201d Fleming said. \u201cThis donation validates our program and underscores the importance of football at URI. Mark has been incredibly supportive every step of the way, and we hope his generosity shows our student-athletes that his URI football experience was meaningful and worth giving back to. I can\u2019t thank him enough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n URI football will play its 2026 home schedule at the 10,500-seat Centreville Bank Stadium<\/a>\u2014home to Rhode Island FC of the United Soccer League\u2014in Pawtucket starting Sept. 12. Meade Stadium is undergoing a major $42 million renovation, part of an $85 million athletic facilities overhaul<\/a> at URI. The renovation, which will involve tearing down and building new east stands and press box, will conclude in time for the Rams\u2019 2027 fall season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Feb. 3, 2026 \u2013 Mark S. Cruise \u201981 \u201984, a University of Rhode Island football program all-time great, and his wife, Sue Cruise \u201984, have gifted their alma mater $2 million to both establish a new endowment fund supporting URI\u2019s student-athletes and to rename the football team\u2019s practice field in Cruises\u2019 honor. 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