Changing the Game

Josh Wheeler ’23 ’24 recently added a third silver medal in Paralympic wheelchair rugby from the Paris games to his silver medals from Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro. He also retired from the sport to pursue work as an accountant. A nontraditional student, he looks back on his time at the University of Arizona with gratitude for the donors and philanthropic gifts that support Arizona Adaptive Athletics.

“The Adaptive Athletics program at U of A has had a big impact on adaptive athletics in general,” Wheeler says. “It helps people move on with their life, get over an accident and learn how to live life easier and better. Without gifts, the program wouldn’t be what it is today.”

Adaptive Athletics, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, was the recipient of several gifts in 2023-24, including $6.5 million in outright and estate gifts from Vicki and Jim Click and $1 million from Jeannie and Cole Davis. Both couples support the program in helping recruit elite student-athletes, ensuring equity for disabled student-athletes and expanding access to resources for sports programs from wheelchair basketball and rugby to adaptive tennis and golf.

“I will never be able to thank them enough,” Wheeler says. “I was able to go back to school on scholarship, play the sport I love and get my bachelor’s and my master’s degree, in big part due to gifts.”