Formal Launch

CSUSM President Karen Haynes officially kicked off the campaign during an on-campus event on Sunday, September 20 attended by approximately 200 key donors, community leaders, alumni, students, faculty and staff in the University Student Union ballroom.

“Donor support is already making a real difference at our University,” said President Karen Haynes. “Today, it’s time to take our efforts to the next level through our first major philanthropic campaign. No other university in the CSU system, and likely in the nation, has attempted a comprehensive fund raising campaign at our age. Our goal is audaciously bold, but it befits our audaciously bold aspirations.”

Since CSUSM began the campaign’s quiet phase to prioritize needs and establish fund raising goals, donors have contributed more than $26 million—bringing the campaign nearly halfway to its goal.

Regional philanthropist Darlene Shiley provided the lead gift to Forward Together with a donation of $3 million, supporting the CSU Institute for Palliative Care, launched at Cal State San Marcos in 2012.

“I’m a proud Cal State San Marcos donor,” Shiley remarked at the campaign launch event. “It is three years to the day that we launched the Institute for Palliative Care. And whether it’s through the Institute or through the work of the professors here, all working side-by-side in matters related to everything from health, education, economics, the environment, the arts, sciences, business…this university is advancing innovation in great areas that we need to be looking at.”

Forward Together is designed to build upon the University’s 25-year history of serving the region of Northern San Diego, Southwest Riverside and South Orange Counties. The theme is a tribute to the groundswell of partnerships and community support that initially advocated for the university and has continued to sustain and grow it over the years.

“Like our University, this campaign will succeed because of the collective contributions of countless individuals,” said Haynes. “It starts here and it starts now. Working together, we are capable of incredible things.”

Preparing, Building, Solving

Jack Raymond, chair of the CSUSM Foundation Board and a leading community supporter since the University’s inception said, “What we have achieved since opening our doors 25 years ago has been truly remarkable—but we can’t stop here. The need within our region is extensive and the demand on our University is great. Undertaken at this pivotal moment in our institutional and regional history, our campaign is not just inevitable, it’s imperative. We must succeed—and we will succeed!”

The campaign is focused on enhancing CSUSM’s strengths by:

• Preparing Tomorrow’s Leaders

• Building Great Communities

• Solving Critical Issues

The highest campaign priority, with a total fundraising goal of $25 million, addresses the need to prepare students to become tomorrow’s leaders through scholarships, working scholarships and graduate fellows as well as through the support of CSUSM’s one-of-a-kind programs for former foster youth, veterans and other at-risk populations.

Another $5 million will go toward initiatives that build great communities through The Alliance to Accelerate Excellence in Education and K-12 outreach, athletics, on-campus artistic and cultural performances, and enhanced university art venues, rehearsal spaces and laboratories.

The campaigns goals also include $20 million for solving critical issues through innovative academic programs, cutting-edge research and faculty development as well as via the CSU Institute for Palliative Care at Cal State San Marcos.

Generous Supporters

Since the quiet phase of the campaign began in January 2012, hundreds of donors have made gifts of every size to the campus. Notable donations include:

• $3 million from regional philanthropist Darlene Shiley for the CSU Institute for Palliative Care. Palliative care is health care that focuses on relief of suffering and improving quality of life for those with serious or chronic illness. A portion of Shiley’s gift helped launched the Institute at CSUSM in 2012.

  $1 million from CSUSM Foundation Board Member Esther Stearns and her wife, Jan, for ACE Scholars Services, a unique program that provides services and resources to former foster youth.In recognition of their gift, the University named the program’s newly renovated space the Jan and Esther Stearns Center for ACE Scholars.

• $1 million from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians to CSUSM’s California Indian Culture and Sovereignty Center in support of research and efforts to preserve the heritage of Californian Indians. Opened in 2011, the Center is the only one of its kind for the state, facilitating a sense of community and belonging among the Native population both on and off campus.

• Over $700,000 from Price Philanthropies for the Alliance to Accelerate Excellence in Education, the umbrella organization that administers CSUSM’s ten guaranteed admission agreements with regional school districts. These agreements help students become college-ready with the aim of reducing high school dropout rates and increasing college access to the most at-risk and underserved populations.

• A generous provision from his estate through a planned gift from CSUSM Administrator Emeritus Peter Zwick to provide scholarships for international students coming to CSUSM and the Zwick Study Abroad Scholarship, which assists students who want to study abroad for a full semester or longer.

CSUSM will update supporters on campaign goals and progress through its newly launched campaign website: www.csusm.edu/forwardtogether.

“I got a call from the athletic director at Cal State San Marcos while I was driving from Fresno to Los Angeles,” Saia recalled. “I had never heard of Cal State San Marcos before, but I drove down, took a look around and thought, `Wow, this is a great school with great people, and it would be great to start a program from the ground up.’”

Indeed, when Saia arrived in 2010 Cal State San Marcos didn’t even have a basketball program.

He has since built a powerhouse. The Cougars have won 30 or more games in back-to-back seasons, were voted No. 1 in National Association of Intercollegiate (NAIA) rankings 11 times and have made three consecutive trips to the NAIA National Championships tournament.

“He started from nothing and went out and found athletic players who were fun to watch,” said San Diego Union-Tribune sportswriter John Maffei. “He has really brought a lot to the university.”

Now Saia and the Cougars are taking the next step in their journey: the University this fall competes in its inaugural season at the NCAA Division II level. That comes after CSUSM earlier this year broke ground on a state-of-the-art, on-campus arena that will allow the Cougars to play its home games at home. Until now, `home’ games were played at MiraCosta College gym in Oceanside.

“The new Sports Center is going to be a rallying point for the region,” said Saia. “Having supportive fans in the stands allow our student athletes to perform at their maximum potential. When you add a great team with a great home fan base, you are a formidable opponent.”

The competition will be tougher at the NCAA level, the Cadillac of college hoops. What’s more, CSUSM's new conference, the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), is the premier league in NCAA Division II. Its teams have combined for 153 Division II national championships—the most of any conference in the country. But CSUSM is ready to represent.

“It’s exciting to be a part of the NCAA and the CCAA conference,” Saia said. “It’s an excellent conference with excellent coaches, so it will be a challenge. The schedule from top to bottom is pretty tough. But basketball is basketball no matter if it’s NCAA Division I or NAIA. The fundamentals don’t change. You’re helping to mentor and develop student athletes so they can get a degree and be successful in life. As for the game itself, if you don’t execute, you’re not going to be successful.”

Saia has found success everywhere he’s gone. As the starting point guard at Sir Francis Drake High School in Marin County, Saia helped lead his team to capture two California state championships during his junior and senior seasons in 1981 and 1982.

A talented recruiter and an offensive mastermind, Saia came to CSUSM with 14 years of coaching experience on the NCAA Division I level, including a seven-year tenure as the top assistant coach at UCLA and one year at USC. Saia has helped more than 15 players onto rosters of NBA teams, including Baron Davis, Earl Watson, Jason Kapono, Nick Young and Matt Barnes. He also has coached at UC Berkeley, Indiana State, Fresno State and Columbia College, in addition to Fresno Pacific.

Saia’s first year at CSUSM was spent establishing the new basketball program. He attracted a crop of NCAA Division I and junior college standouts to join him at San Marcos, and immediately scheduled exhibitions against NCAA Division I programs. The first game the new Cougars played was an exhibition against a San Diego State University team coming off a Sweet 16 appearance. At a nearly sold-out Viejas Arena in San Diego, Saia’s squad made a run every time SDSU started to pull away.

“It was like the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid where Butch and Sundance keep looking back at this posse that’s chasing them and asking, `Who are those guys?’” Saia said. “That’s what the SDSU folks were saying.”

Forward Together: Cougar Athletics

Today, the Cougars are on the map. And so is the CSUSM Athletics Department, which is now raising funds for student-athlete scholarships, athlete services and The Sports Center. Together, these initiatives are part of the growing momentum for creating a stronger community not only at Cal State San Marcos but beyond.

“Over the program’s history, generous students and donors have helped us transform dirt lots into athletic fields, enabling lifelong lessons in teamwork, persistence and leadership,” said Director of Athletics Jennifer Milo. “With campaign support, we can further enhance playing and practice facilities, grow scholarships and provide our student-athletes with an even greater experience so that they can be the best that they can be. In doing so, we also create a powerful source of Cougar pride.”

And as for Saia, he is as excited about the future as he’s ever been.

“We envision this program to grow into a top contender on the NCAA Division II level.”

To learn more about Forward Together: The Campaign for California State University San Marcos and how you can help build great communities through athletics or other initiatives, visit: www.csusm.edu/forwardtogether