Jared and Megghan St. Aubyn Give $350K Gift for Strength Facility
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Jared St. Aubyn, a former Lobo offensive lineman under Dennis Franchoine and Rocky Long, and his wife Megghan have announced a $350,000 gift to Lobo Athletics that will go to the New Mexico Mutual Champions Center.
The gift is the fourth major gift in the first half of the 2021 calendar year. Diana and Chet Stewart gifted $100,000 for the Diana and Chet Stewart Football Excellence Fund in January, $199,575 was raised in February during Lobo Give Day, and last month New Mexico Mutual announced a $1 million gift for the New Mexico Mutual Champions Training Center.
Most recently, the St. Aubyn family has made a gift that will fund the near-completion of the new Center and allow for upgrades to the current athletic performance center housed in the Tow Diehm Football Complex.
“We are humbled and grateful for the generosity and stewardship of Jared and Megghan St. Aubyn,” said Jalen Dominguez, Associate A.D. and Executive Director of the Lobo Club. “This is an impactful moment for our program, and for our student-athletes. This is a gift that will allow us to continue to compete for championships and have a tremendous impact on our student-athletes.”
Danny Gonzales, head coach entering his second season with Lobo Football, has continued to hammer home the concept that Lobo Football, and Lobo Athletics, isn’t just about the people on campus. It is about the entire state, and everyone that loves the Lobos. The gift from the St. Aubyn’s emphasizes that point for him.
“When I talk about the successes that we want as a football team and how it is going to take everyone, this is an example of that,” said Danny. “I’m so thankful for Jared and Megghan and what they are doing not just for our football program, but for our university. The momentum that we have is real. People believe in what we are doing, and we are winning championship after championship. Lobo Football wants to get in on that with our fifth conference championship, and this is going to move us closer to that goal.”
As a student-athlete, as a family, and as philanthropists, the story behind the St. Aubyn family is one that equal parts uplifting, touching, and even romantic. Jared came to UNM on scholarship after a sterling prep career in Greeley, Colorado, where he played at Greeley Central from 1993-96, graduating in the spring of 1997. At Greeley Central, he was named All-Colorado and a Blue Chip All-American.
Jared played at New Mexico from 1997-99, a part of UNM’s division championship team in 1997 under Dennis Franchoine. He then played two seasons (1998 and 1999) under Rocky Long, where he was a teammate with current head coach Danny Gonzales. His career ended due to a back injury after his redshirt sophomore season in 1999.
That injury closed the door to playing football, but it opened another door, proverbially. St. Aubyn went to work in commercial construction for Hensel Phelps Construction in 2001 as a Field Engineer and continued his career in residential construction. In 2009 he opened Saint Aubyn Homes, LLC, and within three short years Saint Aubyn Homes was named the fastest growing private homebuilder in the country by Builder Magazine. Saint Aubyn Homes was consistently ranked in the top 70 nationally among all homebuilders.
Jared and Megghan sold their controlling interest in the company in 2019, allowing Jared to continue to pursue his passion of giving back as a local high school football coach. St. Aubyn has served as an assistant coach of Palmer Ridge High School in Monument, Colorado since 2014, making four appearances in the state title game, winning three Colorado state titles.
As for the romantic part of the St. Aubyn story, not many folks can say that they met their spouse in sixth grade, but for Jared and Megghan, that’s reality. The couple met at 12 years of age as both were in the same science class in sixth grade. Jared and Megghan remained friends all through junior and senior high school, and then dated in college. They couple will celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary this August.
Philanthropy is not a foreign concept to the St. Aubyn family. Megghan is a member of the Board of Directors for Monument Academy Charter School, serves on the board for the Bears Football Club of Monument, and is also active in managing One Love Ethiopia, which is a 501c(3) non-profit organization founded by the St. Aubyn’s and friends Kit and Mandy Bradshaw. One Love Ethiopia works to educate, enrich, and empower the lives of underprivileged children and their families in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (Oneloveethiopia.org)
“Behind everything we do is a passion for kids and opportunity offered through education,” said Jared St. Aubyn. “We believe in the hard work, passion, and team mentality that is learn through participation in sports at all levels and are excited to be able to play a small part in helping the University of New Mexico maximize it’s impact on student-athlete’ lives at the collegiate level.”
Jared and Megghan have three children: Jackson (16), a rising sophomore at Palmer Ridge High School, Lyla (14), who will finish 8th grade at Monument Academy in May, and then attend PRHS in the fall, and Asher (11), who will begin fifth grade at Monument Academy the fall.