Tartan Teamwork

The Bikulege Family huddles up to support CMU Tartan football now and into the future

For Carnegie Mellon University parents and supporters Stan and Paula Bikulege and their children Natalie, Class of 2018 alumnus Stan Jr. and Class of 2021 alumnus Luke, giving back is all about the three Fs: family, faith and football.

“A sport like football makes you realize that you need everyone,” Paula says. “You could be the best player on the field, but you need a whole team to make things happen.”

Through the Bikulege Family Football Endowment Fund, the family remains a part of the Tartan Athletics team by supporting everything from staff positions to player equipment and making a difference for current and future Tartan student-athletes.

“These young men from all over the country are going to a great school and working their tails off on a football field,” says Stan, who is chairman and CEO of Novolex. “We want to give them the opportunity to have something a little bit different, whether funding a coaching position to help them be better, buying a piece of equipment, seeing their face on the Jumbotron or making sure they better themselves through their educations.”

Preseason Prep

Stan and Paula started dating during high school in suburban Pittsburgh. He was the captain of the football team, and she was the head cheerleader. They married in 1988 after earning their bachelor’s degrees in 1986 — chemical engineering for Stan and industrial engineering for Paula.

The couple moved to Georgia in 1989 for work, and in the evenings, they attended Georgia State University and earned their MBAs. Together, the family traveled around the world, moving seven times for their careers, before settling down in Greenville, South Carolina.

As Natalie, Stan Jr. and Luke grew up, family time, dedication to their faith and sports were central to their lives.

“They let us try out every sport,” Stan Jr. says. “But ultimately, Luke and I both just ended up spending a lot of our time in football. My sister liked watching it, too. It was an easy thing for everyone to agree on, whether it was watching it on Sunday or going to our games.”

As Stan Jr. entered middle school, the family’s philanthropy was integral to launching a football program at St. Joseph’s Catholic School. Paula, who owned and operated a consulting business, also was the project manager for the effort, initiating, growing and institutionalizing the sport, and Stan and Natalie cheered from the stands. Eventually, Luke joined the team, too, and the program rose to be one of the best in the state. 

“As much as we love the game, it was just cool to be part of building a program and very familial,” Stan Jr. says. “The head coach was really instrumental in all our lives.”

When the time came for college, Stan searched for a similar vibe, and he found it in his parents’ hometown with Coach Rich Lackner.

Game Time

A mechanical engineering graduate, Stan’s first season as an inside linebacker was in 2014. He finished his senior year as a four-year starter and a team captain; was awarded the Senior Leadership Recognition Award as well as the Jimmy Star Memorial Scholarship; named Academic All-District and chosen for three All-Conference teams.

Luke joined the team as a running back in 2017 and worked toward his degree in business administration from Tepper School of Business. He was a team captain his senior year, named an Academic All-American and twice-over Academic All-District and chosen for the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Academic Honor Roll three times.

Continuing their fusion of athletics and academics, Stan Jr. and Luke were both named to the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame’s Hampshire Honor Society, which recognizes players who have maintained a 3.2 GPA throughout their higher education careers.

Both say Coach Lackner, who retired in 2021 after 36 years leading Tartan Football, evolved into “a father away from home.”

Like Stan and Paula, Coach Lackner and his staff strove to instill integrity and excellence, both in the classroom and on the field, in their student-athletes.

“The ultimate reason we were at Carnegie Mellon was for the academics, but our teammates and our coaches, they formed our experience,” Luke says. “CMU is 100% a challenge, so as student-athletes, we had the normal experience plus an entire sport on top of it. But we had our team to support us for the ups and downs, the long nights, the hard study sessions, the cold games, the injuries, whatever it may be, we were there for each other.”

Throughout the boys’ CMU careers, Paula and Stan made it to as many games as they could, as did Natalie, as she earned her bachelor’s degree in public health and a medical degree. She’s currently the pediatric chief resident at Prisma Health in Greenville. 

“Natalie has always been so supportive of our family’s love of the game,” says Stan Jr., who recently married fellow Tartan student-athlete and Class of 2020 Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences graduate Kathryn (Reilly) Bikulege. “Our family isn’t who it is without her.”

The brothers are still teammates, too, working together at Lightview Capital, a private equity firm in West Palm Beach, Florida.

“CMU really teaches you the core competencies to be successful,” Luke says. “I was able to learn how to work with so many different people and different ways of thinking that allow me to approach solutions uniquely.”

A Philanthropy Playbook

Paula and Stan both say they never imagined they’d be in a position to support the causes and places that are close to their hearts.

In addition to their support for CMU’s football program, through the Bikulege Family Foundation, they’ve endowed academic scholarships at Youngstown State University (Stan’s undergraduate alma mater), the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville (Natalie’s medical school), Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh (attended by both their fathers) and Georgia State University (their graduate school alma mater), among numerous other organizations that help those in need. 

“Many times, we’ve put our support into places where someone has helped our children,” Paula says. “Carnegie Mellon has given so much to our sons — being on campus with those coaches, that environment and, obviously, the education.”

At CMU, their giving allows the program to recruit nationally, invest in technology, procure necessary equipment and support nutrition and hydration. The family’s generosity helped support the purchase of the Gesling Stadium videoboard and the transition of a part-time defensive coach position to a full-time coaching role.

“Stan and Paula’s generosity has had a transformative impact on the Carnegie Mellon Football Program, and the experience we are able to provide for our students,” says Josh Centor, CMU’s associate vice president of student affairs and director of athletics. “The Bikulege Family Endowment has provided us with the opportunity to invest strategically, and the impact can be seen in the competitiveness of our program and in the educational environment our players thrive in. We couldn’t do the things we are able to do without the generosity and vision of the Bikulege Family.”

For the family, their giving is definitely a group effort.

“Paula and I have talked to our children to ensure they continue this forward,” Stan says. “The more you give, the more you get, but you don’t have to give to get. You give because it’s the right thing to do.”

Stan Jr. and Luke have already embraced the family’s tradition of philanthropy, volunteering their time this fall to help raise funds for the football team’s alternative jerseys by reaching out to fellow recent alumni.

“I thought that was phenomenal,” Paula says. “You start small, and someday, the next thing you know, you’re in a place where you can give a lot more. It’s so true to say that in giving you receive.”