Lifelong athletics connection drives scholarship endowment

For David Terry, AB ’90, MA ’92, and Jason Carthen, AB ’93, Ph.D., a bond created on the Ohio University football team led to a lifelong friendship. And it all started with a simple jersey number.

Growing up, Terry followed athletes he admired who sported the number 99 on their jerseys and hoped to someday do the same.

“I was thinking, ‘This is a good number. I want to wear that number,’ ” Terry explained. “It’s the highest number, right? There is no 100 in football, so you can look at it as being at the pinnacle.”

Terry saw that dream fulfilled during his senior year on the OHIO football team—the same year Carthen joined the team as a freshman. After Terry’s graduation, Carthen took over his beloved number, and the pair have stayed in touch over the nearly 25 years since.

Carthen went on to play for the New England Patriots and today is an accomplished author, speaker and entrepreneur dedicated to leadership development and social justice. Terry teaches criminal justice, history and sociology at San Joaquin Delta College in California, where he also serves as chair of the correctional science program and faculty chair of the Correctional Science Advisory Board.

Driven by a desire to give back to the University that brought them together and gave them the foundations for their success, Terry and Carthen decided to commemorate the number 99 and its legacy through an endowed scholarship. The 99 Reasons Scholarship encourages values the pair hold close to their hearts: excellence, determination and self-motivation.

The scholarship is available to undergraduate students attending OHIO’s College of Arts and Sciences who have demonstrated financial need. Preference is given to students from Carthen’s home area of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, or his current residence of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. Terry and Carthen have pledged a combined $25,000 for the endowment of the fund, which also accepts donations.

“When we were brainstorming these ideas about scholarships and paying it forward, 99 popped up,” Terry said. He credited Carthen with deciding on the name and articulating the significance of the number and their shared values.

For Carthen, The 99 Reasons Scholarship represents living with purpose, passion and unwavering commitment to character—hallmarks of a life led with integrity and dedication.

“This is a pathway that you can walk on in life that will lead to success if you follow through with the embodiment of the scholarship,” he said.

Terry added that he believes both he and Carthen epitomize academic excellence, starting from their time on the football field all the way to this endowment.

“We are continuing our journey based on what we accomplished at OHIO, and we would like to include others in this spirit of giving, especially during this time of the year,” he said.

Both Carthen and Terry stressed that they would not be where they are today without the help they received along the way. They hope their scholarship will inspire others to support one another in any way they can.

“I would like anyone to see that you can make a difference,” Terry said. “Dr. Carthen and I have both been the beneficiaries of people helping us. From my point of view, I had some great people at OHIO who probably saw things in me that I didn’t see at the time, who really invested in me and poured into me.”

Carthen said the many challenges he’s faced in life have taught him to overcome adversity. With the help of friends, colleagues, peers and family, he has paved a path forward to become the person he is today.

“This scholarship has special meaning in the sense that it’s tied to not only my career at OHIO, but what I had to go through in order to get there,” Carthen said. “Through that adversity, I saw an opportunity. I leveraged it and now, I find myself walking things out with more intentionality on this back side of my life.”

Carthen has always believed that there are more than “99 reasons” to strive for success the right way, and his shared jersey number with Terry represents a legacy of perseverance, leadership and the transformative power of education. Together, they hope The 99 Reasons Scholarship will inspire a generation to achieve greatness with integrity and empower future leaders who are determined to make a difference in the world.

“I would like everybody to know that they can create their own experience and memories for themselves through giving and through helping others,” Terry said. “As I said, 99 is the highest number—so why not strive for the highest?”

Donate to support The 99 Reasons Scholarship fund