CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Austin Peay State University held a ribbon cutting Wednesday for the Atkins Family Beach Volleyball Facility on the front lawn of the Winfield Dunn Center.
In June 2023, the APSU Board of Trustees voted to have the beach volleyball area in the Joe and Cathi Maynard Family Athletics Complex named after the Atkins family in honor of their gift to benefit APSU’s women’s athletic programs.
Billy Atkins said his family’s support for the university goes back to the early 1960s.
“We have been longtime athletic and academic supporters of Austin Peay. We have a 60-year relationship with the athletic department and academics at Austin Peay. We’re so glad and proud to be able to do this and support the university’s women’s athletics programs,” Atkins said.
Atkins added that he had three brothers and all three played scholarship baseball at APSU, and that was when he started attending athletic events, followed by his family all through the years.
Atkins is well known for his support of Austin Peay. He has also served as past president of the Governors Club and the Austin Peay Foundation Board of Directors. In 2017, Gov. Bill Haslam named Atkins to the inaugural APSU Board of Trustees.
Atkins retired from Legends Bank as chairman in 2019 and currently serves as senior chairman on the board of directors.