Lake Tahoe Community College receives $5 million donation to bring 4-year degrees to South Shore
The Lake Tahoe Community College Board of Trustees accepted a $5 million donation Tuesday from longtime Tahoe resident Lisa Maloff, in memory of her husband, Robert Maloff, according to the South Lake Tahoe community college website and LTCC officials.
The donation will be used to construct a University Center that will make four-year degrees a reality on the South Shore. This is the largest single donation ever given to LTCC, rivaling those that have been given to much larger colleges in California and around the country.
This donation will make one of the community’s long-held hopes a reality, says LTCC Superintendent-President Kindred Murillo, Ed.D. “Our community has been requesting that LTCC leads the drive to create opportunities for four-year degrees in Tahoe ever since I arrived, and this extremely generous gift will give us the opportunity to truly serve the South Tahoe area,” she said.
LTCC’s Measure F bond effort was designed around the concept of taking $55 million in taxpayer dollars and leveraging that into significantly more dollars through private donations and matching state grants. “Success breeds more success. Thanks to Measure F passing, we’re now in a position to show donors interested in supporting higher education locally that our college and community are serious about building a premier destination college in South Lake Tahoe,” says Dr. Murillo.
The college budgeted $825,000 of Measure F bond money to pilot a University Center from an existing building on campus. Thanks to Lisa Maloff’s generous donation, LTCC is now planning on constructing a brand-new, stand-alone University Center that will provide access to upper-division level educational opportunities and academic support services made possible through partnerships with other institutions. Both private and public colleges and universities have been invited to provide baccalaureate programs at LTCC to ensure access to these degrees to residents of the local community.
At the same time, LTCC is also applying for a state pilot program that will usher in baccalaureate degrees at up to 15 community colleges, beginning with one degree per pilot college. LTCC has convened a committee charged with exploring which four-year degree to offer if the college is tapped for the state’s pilot program.
The budget for the Lisa and Robert Maloff University Center at LTCC includes costs for architect and engineering plans, building permits, inspections, construction costs, and furniture and equipment. The result would be a 5,500 sq. ft. building with three classrooms, offices, a meeting room, and restrooms and mechanical space, located close to the Fine Arts building where the Duke Theatre is housed. Some of the particulars of this plan could change depending on which institutions the college partners with, and what degrees they offer.
The Maloffs moved to South Lake Tahoe in 1958. For years, they were regular attendees at LTCC’s annual Gala fundraiser, and they have been lifelong advocates for providing the opportunity for a quality education for all students. “Lake Tahoe Community College already provides a great education. But I believe in extending those terrific services to even more students,” says Maloff.
Longtime Board of Trustee member Roberta Mason, who was a key figure in the creation of LTCC and who has served as a trustee for all 40 of the college’s years in existence, has known the Maloffs for decades. Mason’s husband, Bob, provided architectural services to Maloff, and the two men were friends for many years.
With this donation and the voters’ support of Measure F, Mason, who is set to retire as trustee in December, will be leaving the college’s service on a very high note. “I am so excited that LTCC will be able to provide this fantastic educational opportunity to our students and community, to further their studies right here at home thanks to this extremely generous donation,” says Mason. “It will also add another ‘clean’ business to the economy of South Lake Tahoe. This is all so exciting, I almost regret retiring! I can never thank Lisa enough for making this dream come true.”
For more information about this donation and the Lisa and Robert Maloff University Center at LTCC, please contact the Superintendent/President’s Office at (530) 541-4660 ext. 210.
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