Donation of $5.25 Million Brings Optimism to Hope

A multimillion-dollar donation from a retired Las Vegas businessman to build a student center and sports arena is bringing new hope for the future of athletics at Hope International.

Recruiting has been difficult for the campus that currently rents playing facilities, mainly from Cal State Fullerton located across the street. Those arrangements have been criticized by other Golden State Athletic Conference schools, all of which have on-campus facilities.

But “with the new gym, this program could really go somewhere,” said Jason Lowery, Hope International men’s basketball coach.

The retired businessman, Stan Fulton, donated $5.25 million and earmarked most of it for the 2,000-seat multipurpose arena.

A portion will also be dedicated for scholarships and endowments, but the bulk of the funds will go to build a campus student center that will include the arena and adjacent locker rooms, athletic department offices, a cafeteria and meeting center.

Fulton did not respond to a request for an interview. He has taken a personal interest in the school after befriending university President LeRoy Lawson several years ago. The recent donation is Fulton’s second to the school; he previously donated $300,000 for campus expansion.

“This will provide a complete transformation for student life on this campus,” said David Grubbs, a Newport Beach fund-raising consultant who helped secure the donation. “It will be state of the art. We didn’t want to go put up a building on campus that would be a maintenance nightmare. It will be absolutely top drawer.”

Hope’s marketing director, Erik Stauber, said the arena is part of a $12.5-million construction plan that, when completed, will prove that Hope, which moved to Fullerton from Long Beach in 1973, intends to make its athletic mark among the county’s six four-year college campuses.

Construction could begin as early as spring.

ORANGE CRUSHED

Orange Coast College’s athletic director, Jane Hilgendorf, said frustration has reached the boiling point in what she feels has been a botched attempt to retrofit the gymnasium and locker rooms for earthquake safety.

Work began in May and Hilgendorf said it was supposed to be completed by Aug. 1. Some classes may be able to use the gym by the end of the week, but it will be several more weeks before sports teams get their shot because of problems refitting the main retractable fiberglass basketball backboards.

“It has been a nightmare,” Hilgendorf said.

The women’s volleyball team has played its matches on the road and rented Costa Mesa High and the Newport Beach Community Center for practices. The men’s basketball team practices at Estancia High, and the women’s team uses Marina, but can only get the Viking gym from 5:30-7:30 a.m. daily.

The retrofit has been plagued by a series of calamities and poor planning, according to Hilgendorf.

In late August, with the roof off, a late-night thundershower dumped rain on the wooden floor, causing it to warp. The school has no plans to resurface the floor until next summer, Hilgendorf said.

WOMEN’S SOCCER

The Chapman women’s soccer team is 12-4-1 after its fifth consecutive victory, a 5-0 pounding of Rhodes College of Memphis on Sunday.

The Panthers are one shutout from equaling the school record they set last season when they blanked 12 opponents.

Chapman has been led by Sara Struhs (seven goals, four assists) and Briana Benson (seven goals, one assist).

Panther hopes of earning one of two NCAA Division III at-large playoff berths appear to hinge on their Oct. 27 match with UC Santa Cruz (8-3-1). Chapman plays at Cal State Fullerton at 5 p.m. Friday, and Craig Bennet, the team’s first-year coach, believes a strong showing against the Division I opponent will look good to the playoff selection committee, which will release pairings Oct. 29.

“It will certainly be a good challenge playing Fullerton,” Bennett said. “I’m not getting any expectations up, but I’m hopeful.”

Meanwhile, UC Irvine (9-3-1, 3-1) and Fullerton (7-8, 3-2) are headed for a Nov. 3 showdown that could decide the Big West Conference title. Irvine, which has won four in a row, hosts Pepperdine at 7 p.m. Friday in a nonconference match.

Fullerton shares second with Idaho and Long Beach State, three points behind Irvine. The Titans take a two-game winning streak into Wednesday’s 7 p.m. nonleague game against visiting Biola.

NOTEWORTHY

Led by Tricia Mattson’s second-place finish, the Concordia women’s cross-country team won the title at the Triton Invitational at UC San Diego last Saturday. Rachel Lafady finished sixth, Christy Ide was seventh, Mindy Brown eighth and Karen LeBlanc 11th. The Concordia men’s team finished eighth. . . . The men’s soccer team at Cal State Fullerton got a boost last week from the return of midfielder Walter Camargo, who had been sidelined for two weeks with a hip injury. The Titans (9-4-1) are 3-0-1 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Pacific Division.

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Staff writer Lon Eubanks contributed to this report.

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