Japanese Firm Gives $500,000 to Cal State San Marcos

A Japanese trading firm announced Tuesday a $500,000 grant to Cal State San Marcos to establish an annual international festival that would promote cultural understanding of Japan and other nations.

The gift is by far the largest donation received by the fledgling university and more than doubles its endowment.

Itoman & Co., developers of the 1,700-acre Rancho Cielo community near Rancho Santa Fe, presented the first of 10 annual installments of $50,000 each to Cal State San Marcos President Bill Stacy at a reception in Torrey Pines.

The series of festivals probably will begin in 1992.

The festival’s format and content have been left to the discretion of the university, said an Itoman spokesman.

“It’s completely open-ended and undefined beyond saying that we’ll try to promote international understanding,” said Stacy, adding that the festival fits in perfectly with the university’s mission to educate students with an “international perspective.”

“We may focus one year on the European economic community with the various sovereign nations joining and sharing currency, and that sort of thing,” Stacy said. “We may have a Japanese-American festival that looks at music and art. We may have a festival that corresponds with something that’s already in San Diego with an international flavor.”

Discussions about the endowment began earlier this month and was finalized last week, Stacy said.

Although the funds are being donated specifically to hold the festival, Stacy said the university hopes to spend less than the $50,000 a year and roll the rest over into a permanent fund to perpetuate the event.

Because the university will not have the facilities to hold a major festival for several years, Stacy said that the event will rotate among North County cities.

This is the first time that Itoman & Co. has made a contribution to a university on this scale, said Thomas Davis Jr., general manager of Pacific Cielo Developments, an Itoman subsidiary.

“It’s Itoman’s feeling that we’re coming in and making a massive investment into the community,” said Davis, whose company is spending $700 million over the next 10 years on the Rancho Cielo project. “With that kind of commitment to a community, the feeling was that we could go beyond the home development and do something for the community.”

“Itoman’s philosophy is to improve the quality of life, not to come in and buy up everything and run with the profits,” Davis said. “The commitment is long term. Itoman fully intends to have a permanent presence in this area.”

Itoman, a trading company dealing in foodstuffs, clothing, metals and real estate, with worldwide annual sales of $4 billion for fiscal 1989, has offices in Asia, Australia, North and South America and Europe. Subsidiaries include Bugle Boy clothing and Lynx golf clubs.

The Itoman donation brings the newly formed Cal State San Marcos Foundation over the $1 million mark. Last month, the university received a $250,000 from Bill Daniels to form an endowed chair in communications.