Placer Ranch: Broad Foundation

Sacramento State President Alexander Gonzalez highlighted the benefits the new sports complex will bring to current and future students.

In 2005, the Eli and Edythe L. Broad Foundation donated $2 million to Sacramento State to build a modern field house just south of the University’s stadium, the first piece of the University’s Alex G. Spanos Sports and Recreation Complex project. The Complex will help Sac State recruit and train athletes in multiple sports, and is part of the University’s Destination 2010 initiative. A groundbreaking event was held August 24, 2006, to formally launch the more than 20,000-square foot Broad Athletic Facility.

Nearly 300 people, including student-athletes, alumni, political leaders and community members, turned out to mark the first phase of the new sports complex. The facility will serve a variety of purposes for the football and men’s and women’s track teams. It includes offices and meeting rooms for coaches and support staff, a weight room, a sports medicine/training room, locker rooms and the Gallery of Champions, which will honor Sac State’s outstanding athletes. Site work is underway and construction is expected to be complete in December 2007.

Nearly 300 people attended the groundbreaking event.

Eli and Edythe Broad are longtime supporters of K-12 and higher education, the arts, scientific and medical research, and civic development. Eli Broad has served as vice chairman of the California State University System Board of Trustees and endowed programs at universities across the country. The Broad Foundations award the $1 million Broad Prize for Urban Education to reward and encourage excellence in urban public school districts, operate a “lending library” of contemporary art, and fund medical research at institutions across the country.

Six people used ceremonial golden shovels to break ground on the new Broad Athletic Facility. They were: Pam Stewart, Co-chair of the President’s Executive Committee; Alexander Gonzalez, President of Sacramento State; Holly Tiche, President of Placer Ranch; Terry Wanless, Athletic Director of Sacramento State; John Gesek, former NFL player and Sacramento State alumnus; and Bill Crockett, architect with Ellerbe Beckett.

The Broad Tradition

Eli and Edythe Broad have a long tradition of excellence in community development and commitment to philanthropy, particularly as it relates to education. Eli Broad is a renowned business leader who built two Fortune 500 companies from the ground up over a five-decade career in business. He is founder-chairman of AIG Retirement Services (formerly SunAmerica Inc.) and KB Home (formerly Kaufman and Broad Home Corporation).

Today, he is focused on philanthropy. The Broad family's commitment to philanthropy and community is both deep and wide-ranging. It includes ongoing leadership roles in art, education, science and civic development.

Avid supporters of contemporary art, Eli and Edythe Broad have created one of the world's finest collections. Since 1984, The Broad Art Foundation has operated an active "lending library" of its extensive collection to more than 400 museums and university galleries worldwide. Eli Broad was also involved in the effort to raise funds to build the Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.

In 1999, the Broads founded The Broad Foundation, whose mission is to transform urban public education through better governance, management, labor relations and competition. The Foundation has committed over $400 million in its first five years to support new ideas and innovative leadership in the nation's largest urban school systems.

Because of this passion for education, Placer Ranch is donating 300 acres of land to Sacramento State on which to develop and build a leading regional university to provide Placer County residents with new educational and cultural benefits. The university campus will support thousands of students when complete and is a key component of the community.


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Sacramento State, Placer Campus

Plans for the Sacramento State satellite campus at Placer Ranch are moving steadily forward. According to Sacramento State President Alexander Gonzalez, the university is following the lead of other California State University (CSU) campuses that have been developed over the past few years.

The Broad Tradition

A non-partisan campaign was launched in April 2007 to bring education to the forefront of the presidential campaign agenda between now and November 2008. The Strong American Schools campaign is funded by The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The campaign is designed to mobilize the American public around the critical need to improve America's schools and to get the presidential candidates to address the following three education priorities:

American education standards : Regardless of where they live, all students need to acquire knowledge and skills that prepare them for college, for the workplace and for life. From New Hampshire to Nevada, every student deserves a strong curriculum in subjects like math and English.

Effective teachers in every classroom : We need to enable teachers to improve their skills, measure teachers' performance in the classroom and pay them more if they produce superior results or take on challenging assignments.

More time and support for learning : We need to provide successful and struggling students alike with more time for in-depth learning and greater personal attention.

According to the campaign, more than one million students drop out of high school each year. The $60 million pledged by the Broad and Gates foundations will be used to drive public participation and bring together the leaders of all major political parties who are willing to address education as an American challenge and not just a political issue.

“Our country's education system is no longer the best in the world,” said Eli Broad. “We need every American to demand better schools and specific policy solutions from presidential candidates. Our future depends on it.”

A New Vision for Placer County

Placer Ranch brings Placer County an exciting new concept in community living. Centered around a university campus and business district, it will also include commercial, industrial and retail uses and a variety of affordable housing options. All these will combine to create a new community to serve the needs of residents today and in the future.