USU CLOSE TO RECEIVING BIGGEST GIFT IN ITS HISTORY
By Kim Burgess

The Herald Journal
ws/news02-01-12-10.txt
Jan 12 2010
Utah

Utah State University is on the cusp of receiving the biggest gift in
its history from a Park City-based nonprofit organization, according
to the school’s executive vice president and provost.

USU spokesman John DeVilbiss did not want to make extensive comments
on the donation pending its approval by the state Board of Regents this
Friday. The school’s Board of Trustees approved the historic gift last
Friday, but the size of the donation was not revealed until Monday.

Executive Vice President and Provost Ray Coward indicated that it is
in the $40 to $50 million range.

"This will take our campaign from $250, $260 million almost to the
$300 million mark, which would put us in three-quarters of where our
goal is for the campaign," he told the USU Faculty Senate on Monday,
referring to the school’s capital fundraising campaign.

Materials handed out to the USU Board of Trustees on Friday indicate
the donation from the Swaner EcoCenter would consist of all of the
organization’s assets. This includes the 1,200-acre Swaner Nature
Preserve — the former Swaner family farm that is now "prime wetland
and hillside property in the heart of the Park City metro area"
— the Swaner EcoCenter building and additional property in the
Snyderville Basin.

The EcoCenter, "a 10,000-square-foot educational and administrative
center," was Utah’s first LEED-Platinum building, meaning it was
constructed to high environmental standards. The Trustees’ handouts
outline a plan for USU to continue the center’s environmental education
offerings, giving the school a presence in Park City and opening up
fundraising possibilities in the prosperous area.

In addition, the land will provide a site for research in rangeland
resources, water resources and other areas of interest for USU.

Swaner EcoCenter staff could not be reached for further comment on
Monday evening.

Created mainly from donated farm and ranch land, the organization
aims to preserve land and provide education about the value of nature.

Also on Friday, the Board of Trustees approved two other donations
— a home on about an acre of land in Lewiston that will be sold
with proceeds going to the College of Education and two residential
building lots in Lehi that will be sold with proceeds going to the
athletics department.

The Trustees and Regents must approve all of USU’s real estate
transactions.

In 2008, USU received the gift that currently holds the size record
— $26 million from businessman Jon M. Huntsman. Of that money, $25
million went to the school of business that now bears his name with
$1 million to fund scholarships for Armenian students.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress