Donors help keep Henderson state college afloat

Jennifer Knight

Wednesday, March 27, 2002 | 11:54 a.m.

Green Valley Ranch Station Casino and a handful of Henderson power brokers topped the list of donors who helped feed the Nevada State College at Henderson's withering budget this year after the Legislature passed it over for startup funding, donor records show.

The college, set to open Sept. 3 in a renovated vitamin factory donated by the city of Henderson, has had several setbacks in the past year. The site has been changed, the Legislature did not fund the college in its first year and it lost both its president and vice president.

Still, nine donors with roots in Henderson pledged more than $600,000 in October to keep the college alive. Founding President Richard Moore, who resigned last month, estimated in January that the college had raised a total of $1.55 million.

The reasons for giving, most donors said, was to keep students from leaving the state and to try to create a thriving college town.

The newest Station casino, owned in part by the Greenspun family, which publishes the Las Vegas Sun, pledged up to $200,000 to keep the college afloat until July 1, 2002, when state funding kicks in, officials said.

"It will help stop the drain of intellectual capital of students that are leaving our state to get an education and keep them here," said Glenn Christenson, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Station Casinos. "From our perspective we thought the idea of the state college was very appropriate."

John Gibson, president and CEO of American Pacific Corp., gave the second largest donation at $100,000. He cited benefits to the local economy and education as reasons for the gift.

"Good grief, I hope it's beneficial to Henderson," Gibson said. "A university is probably one of the most beneficial things for the young people in the community in helping prepare them for their careers."

Nearly all donors on the list have deep roots in the community of Henderson, either sitting on Nevada State College's Foundation board or running businesses in the city. Cliff Findlay, a local car dealer, gave $50,000.

Bill Martin, chairman of the state college foundation and Nevada State Bank president and CEO, pledged nearly $50,000 of his own money and another $50,000 of his company's to bring a four-year college to the city.

"I would think that any town would love to have a college," Martin said. "It brings in intellectualism, it brings in academia."

But raising that money amid controversy over the college was difficult. That's why the list of donors didn't include names throughout the state, despite the fact that it is touted as a state institution, said Jim Gibson, Henderson's mayor and a supporter of the state college.

"I don't know of any donors that are being scared off," the mayor said. "I'm not going to try to generate revenues on a capital improvement project on something that is yet to have a class or have an approved curriculum."

Jim Gibson said he plans to draw from a wider base of donors once the college gets off the ground.

To try to cinch the deal, public relations officials have formed a committee that will perform pro bono work for the college. The group plans to start a series of public service announcements on television and visit schools to speak about the college, said Lesley Pittman, vice president of corporate and government relations for Station Casinos.

"Our theme is, 'There is a job waiting for you,' which I think resonates with parents, teachers and students," Pittman said.