<p>Dear USC Marshall Colleagues:
Tomorrow we will announce a major gift to the USC Marshall School of Business, allowing us to take a significant step forward with long-awaited plans to construct a new undergraduate instructional facilityand I wanted you to hear about it from me prior to reading the news. We are ecstatic! This generous naming gift from Jill and Frank Fertitta BS 84 will help Marshall create an exceptional new building at the corner of Figueroa and Exposition. Built within view of one of the universitys main entrances, the Jill and Frank Fertitta Hall will have a unique responsibility as a well-recognized emblem of the university to visitors and members of the surrounding community.</p>
<p>Above all, Fertitta Hall will provide much-needed, state-of-the-art classrooms, while facilitating broader course offerings and more collaborative and technology-enabled learning experiences. Located adjacent to Popovich Hall and our graduate programs, Fertitta Hall will anchor the identity of the USC Marshall undergraduate business program and create a fertile environment for growing a more cohesive and collaborative community.</p>
<p>I am sure you will have many questions related to this announcement, but know that we are very early in the process. We have a long planning process to undertake, including assessment of needs, planning and design of the space, additional fundraising, and collateral issues relative to our other buildings. I will ask Debbie MacInnis, Vice Dean for Undergraduate Programs, and Gregg Goldman, Senior Associate Dean and CFO, to co-chair our Fertitta Hall Building Committee, oversee the planning process and spearhead various faculty, staff and student work groups as we conceptualize the space.</p>
<p>We hope to be able to break ground on the project immediately after commencement in May 2014, and would like to have classes meet in the new building on opening day of the fall 2016 semester. We will be very inclusive and creative in our thoughts, as we get one shot at it, and we want it to represent our very best thinking for this state-of-the-art facility.</p>
<p>Needless to say, I am hugely enthusiastic about this project, but know we have only taken the first step with this gift. While the donors have asked us not to divulge the amount of their gift, it is significant enough to warrant their name on the building. That said, we still have much work ahead to cover the remaining costs associated with the building, and will continue to push forward with our fundraising efforts.</p>
<p>Frank Fertitta is a loyal USC Marshall alumnus who captures the best of our vision for the school. He is entrepreneurial and globalbeing the chairman and CEO of Fertitta Entertainment, a resort and casino development and management company, and Station Casinos, the largest provider of gaming entertainment to the residents of Southern Nevada. He is also a principal owner of Zuffa, LLC, which owns and operates the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC©). In 2001 Frank and his brother, Lorenzo, purchased the UFC©, transforming it into a highly successful global sports enterprise that is now the largest live pay-per-view content provider in the world.</p>
<p>Jill and Frank Fertitta are also Trojan parents whose daughter, Kelley-Ann, is a 2012 graduate of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.</p>
<p>Finally, they are philanthropic, willing to commit their resources where they believe they will be put to good usethis they have done with many institutions and organizations in their hometown of Las Vegas. We could not be more pleased that they have chosen to support our building for future Trojans, as we strive to make USC Marshall the best business school in the world.</p>
<p>We will continue to update you throughout the planning and building process, as we want our entire community to share the challenges and celebrate the successes along the way. In the meantime, I hope you will join me in celebrating this great news. Above all, this is for and about each of you, whose professionalism and dedication are the true building blocks of the USC Marshall School of Business.</p>
<p>Fight On!</p>