A donation from Toby (left) and Bernardine Boulet alumni has established a permanent endowment for the Ric Suggitt Women’s Rugby Memorial Award. (Photo: University of Lethbridge)

By Justin Goulet

Boulet family donation supports award at University of Lethbridge

May 25, 2023 | 3:51 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – A donation from two University of Lethbridge (U of L) alumni has established a permanent endowment for the Ric Suggitt Women’s Rugby Memorial Award.

Bernadine and Toby Boulet have gifted $20,000 towards the award, which is given annually to a women’s rugby player at the U of L. The original award is a tribute to former rugby coach Ric Suggitt.

He coached the Pronghorns for two years before passing away in June of 2017. Suggitt left an impression on many, including the late Logan Boulet, Bernadine and Toby’s son.

Toby stated in a news release from the U of L, “Ric was very special to our son Logan, and he offered to train Logan and his three buddies.”

Logan Boulet was one of the victims of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash in 2018.

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Toby said, “He [Suggitt] did a great job with them just out of the kindness of his heart and Logan really took to that – Ric was a larger-than-life personality.”

Suggitt was an organ donor, which in turn inspired Logan Boulet to register as a donor. Following his passing, Logan was able to save six lives through the donation of his organs.

Bernadine and Toby said the relationship between their son and Suggitt made it an easy decision to support the Ric Suggitt Women’s Rugby Memorial Award.

Toby said, “You can never talk enough about a child who has passed away, and then it gives us a chance to talk about Ric and Ric’s influence on Logan and how he inspired him to become an organ donor.”

Bernadine echoed her husband’s sentiments. As co-chair of the Campaign for Students, she is encouraging others to find an award that resonates with them if they are considering donating.

She said, “I was never that person who would go out and ask for donations and then I thought back to when I was a student here and how fortunate I was to get scholarships and not have to worry about having to work while I was playing soccer and taking a full course load.”

“Those scholarships made a huge difference for me and when I took on this role, I thought about how hard it has been for students the last few years. It hasn’t been an easy road for them, and I see this campaign as an opportunity to build some positive connections again for our students to the University and our community.”

Any donations to the award, or any other new endowed student scholarship, will be matched by the ULethbridge Board of Governors as part of their $10 million pledge to student awards.

Those interested in learning more about the Ric Suggitt Memorial Award can do so at the U of L website.

READ MORE: Celebrating five years of Green Shirt Day at the Logan Boulet Arena

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