Amy DiPierro

News Brief

Friday, November 14, 2025 — 9:10 am

CSU weighs naming buildings after donors, sponsors in deals totaling $55M

California State University is considering naming or renaming buildings at five campuses — including the iconic Walter Pyramid in Long Beach — as part of a series of commercial transactions and multimillion-dollar donations totaling $55 million.

Some of that money will go toward new construction and facility upkeep at a time when CSU is short on cash to meet its capital needs. The namings — which include christening campus buildings in honor of donors as well as naming deals at athletic facilities — will be discussed by CSU’s board of trustees on Wednesday.

Among the proposals, the trustees will weigh a plan to rename Cal State Long Beach’s Walter Pyramid, home to the university’s much-decorated men’s volleyball team, as part of a 12-year, $8.5 million sponsorship deal with LBS Financial Credit Union.

The university would get the full funding up front, according to a board presentation, allowing it “to immediately address urgent infrastructure, technology and facility issues, while also ensuring that Beach Athletics can continue to compete at the highest levels and provide equitable support for student-athletes over the long term.”

The trustees will also review a proposed commercial renaming rights agreement at Cal State Los Angeles, which, alongside related revenue, is estimated to be worth $390,000 annually for three years. That deal would rename the training facility used by Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Football Club, which has a ground lease agreement with Cal State LA. If approved, Los Angeles FC would pay Cal State LA to call the training grounds the Liquid I.V. Performance Center.

Four facility namings to honor donors are also on the trustees’ docket, the largest being a $16 million gift to fund the construction of a new veterinary medicine and animal health facility at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The 15,000-square-foot facility — expected to include wet labs, a surgery suite and space designed for students to practice treating livestock like horses and cattle — would be named for donors Charles and Claire Jacobson pending board approval.

The trustees will, in addition, consider:

  • Naming a new plant sciences building at Cal Poly SLO after alumnus George Wurzel to recognize a $10 million donation from Jim and Suzanne Boswell and the James G. Boswell Foundation.
  • Naming a future science and engineering building at Cal State San Marcos to recognize a $10 million donation from Hunter Industries, a manufacturer.
  • Renaming Cal State Northridge’s Maple Hall — the campus’s first new building in over a decade — to commemorate a $10 million donation from Ronni and Shepard Goodman.

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