Price donates $2.5 million to alma mater Vanderbilt

David Price is doing a good deed with some of the $217 million the Boston Red Sox are paying him over the next seven years.

The left-hander donated $2.5 million to his alma mater Vanderbilt University, the school announced Friday.

Price's donation will be used to support the baseball facilities project at the university. The contribution is the project's largest and completes a $12-million fundraising effort.

"Student-athletes who go on to achieve success and represent the university in the exemplary manner as David Price has are a testament to the truly special program Vanderbilt has developed under Coach Tim Corbin’s leadership," school Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos explained. "It’s not just that some of baseball’s greatest players have emerged from Vanderbilt. These amazing young men also continue to value and honor our university community in many important ways. I am deeply grateful to David and his fellow donors for their generosity and for, yet again, making our Commodore Nation so proud."

Price attended the school from 2005-07, winning the SEC Male Athlete of the Year and Pitcher of the Year awards, before being drafted first overall by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 2007 amateur draft.

"David Price has always been about helping make others better," athletics director David Williams said. "And he has never forgotten Vanderbilt. He has a passion for his extended Commodore family and his leadership with this project is not only important to the future of our baseball program but says everything about his generosity and values. He personifies the excellence we strive to attain at Vanderbilt University."

The 31-year-old Price earned $30 million during his first season with the Red Sox, where he finished 17-9 with a 3.99 ERA across 230 innings.