Colorado University Athletics
Marsico Gift Kicks Off Indoor Training Complex Campaign
BOULDER ? The University of Colorado at Boulder Athletics Department has received a $1.5 million gift from CU alumnus Tom Marsico and his wife Cydney to build a $2.4 million multi-use indoor training complex.
The Marsico gift is the lead gift for the complex and the largest private gift this year to the Boulder campus and athletics department.
The donation was announced during a news conference introducing the new CU-Boulder head football coach, Dan Hawkins, on December 16. The announcement followed a gathering of the coach and his family, athletic director Mike Bohn and CU President Hank Brown at the Marsico home the evening before the announcement. It was during that gathering that the Marsicos informed Brown, Bohn and Hawkins they had decided to contribute significantly to the new facility.
The gift comes to the university at a time of broad change in leadership and operations in several top management positions, providing a shift in direction that President Brown has referred to as “a new beginning” at CU.
In making the gift, Tom Marsico said, “I will forever be a CU alum. The education and life skills I learned at CU have had a meaningful impact in my career and life. It is important to me to show my belief and commitment in advancing and supporting this fine institution,” he said. Marsico is the Chairman and CEO of Marsico Capital Management based in Denver.
“The university is heading in a new direction, and it is the right direction. My family and I want to be a part of this new day at CU,” he added.
Athletics Director Bohn said, “We are extremely excited about this gift, and the timing is impeccable. As we start off anew in both the football program and athletics department, the Marsicos have given the university a huge head start in raising funds for a major multi-use indoor complex that students, faculty, staff, alumni and the community will enjoy for years to come.”
The multi-use complex will be used for athletics practice and training, including intramural sports. The facility also will be available for special events. No time frame has been set for construction, but the campus Facilities Management staff plan to immediately begin developing a construction timeline and looking for an architect.
“We have tremendous momentum right now,” said Bohn. “I want us to seize the excitement and start the planning process as soon as possible.”
Connie Graham of the CU Foundation added, "We're experiencing renewed energy and significant momentum, thanks to all the positive changes and the strong leadership at the University. This is one of the first major gifts we've seen in response to recent events, but my conversations with donors have assured me it won't be the last."
The University of Colorado at Boulder enrolls more than 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students in 150 fields of study, granting degrees in more than 200 major fields at the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels. In 2005, research by the CU-Boulder faculty garnered $258 million in contracts and grants to CU-Boulder, half of that amount from the National Science Foundation, NASA and the Department of Health and Human Services. The CU-Boulder faculty includes four Nobel laureates and seven MacArthur fellows.
The University of Colorado is a three-campus system with campuses in Boulder, Colorado Springs, and a Denver and Health Science Center campus located in Denver and at the former Fitzsimons Army Base in Aurora.