Logan Ramsey
News Editor
At a time when so many projects have had to be delayed due to the spread of COVID-19, one project that is still on track is the Idaho State University Alumni Center. The plan is still to break ground in 2020, with the opening projected for late 2021.
According to Cheryl Hanson, Associate Vice President of Facility Services, while the pandemic slowed down some of the planning slightly, they’ve now acquired all the funds they need to begin the construction.
“There were several things that had to be decided about the plans,” Hanson said.
They decided to add an event center with a 450 person capacity to the building design that would better support future alumni events. Although they didn’t adjust the plans to accommodate social distance, Hanson said all the spaces could be socially distanced.
“We didn’t change anything because of COVID,” Hanson said. “We didn’t change the design, we didn’t change the scope or how we were approaching it or where it was to be located.”
This is a primarily donor-funded project, with $7.4 million gathered in private donations. An additional $2 million came from ISU, bringing it to a total cost of $9.4 million.
“We’re just looking forward to the future when we can have our regular events and not have any COVID,” Hanson said.
In the meantime as the project advances, the Alumni Association is already planning on increasing its student-alumni outreach.
Ryan Sargent, the Director of Alumni Relations, said the goal of the organization is to, “support current students and to ensure they receive the best education possible, just like we as alumni received a great education.”
The efforts they’ve worked on in the past have been, “mentoring students, holding events, getting people re-engaged with the institution, volunteering on campus, guest lecturing and raising funds for scholarships.”
The organization, established in 1906 by some of the original graduates of the Academy of Idaho, has been working to support students since its founding.
While Sargent said, “With the new normal things are going to be different no matter what.” The pandemic hasn’t seemed to impact the Alumni Association in a significant way.
The funds for the Alumni Center were already raised before COVID-19 started to spread, so it didn’t make much of an impact. In addition, they had already planned to move the annual scholarship fundraising event I Love ISU to the spring semester.
“The aim of [I Love ISU] is to unite the Bengal family in support of Idaho State’s people and programs,” said Sargent. “It’s our day to show that Bengals are willing to give back and support the University that they love.”
According to Sargent, I Love ISU was moved to the spring so the Alumni Association “can build momentum throughout the school year.” In addition, the university schedule is already packed with activities in the fall, so they wanted the fundraising efforts to carry over later in the year.
According to Sargent, the Alumni Association has raised over $700,000 over the last two years. He is still confident that they’ll be able to increase their fundraising efforts.
“In terms of being fearful about the support that we’ll receive from our alumni and friends, I’m confident that our alumni and friends are willing to step up and support student scholarships, especially in times like this, when it’s as important as ever,” Sargent said.
With the introduction of an Alumni Center, the goal is to connect students with alumni, “in a way they haven’t been connected before.”
Sargent said the ISU Alumni are proud of current students for continuing their education.
“Whether it’s wars or pandemics, we’ve moved forward and students have a whole network of alumni who are rooting for them, want them to be successful, and we at the Alumni Association will do everything we can to support students.”
