UVU breaks ground on Young Living Alumni Center
Mary Young, CEO of Young Living, and UVU President Astrid Tuminez appear at the groundbreaking event for the Young Living Event Center on the campus of UVU on Friday, Jan. 29, 2021.
On Friday, Jan. 29, 2021, Utah Valley University celebrated a $4.5 million gift from Young Living and the groundbreaking of a 31,401-square-foot Young Living Alumni Center that is expected to be completed in spring 2022.
Scott Cooksey, vice president of institutional advancement at UVU, stands outside of the site where the Young Living Alumni Center will be built on Friday, Jan. 29, 2021
Utah Valley University President Astrid Tuminez speaks at the groundbreaking event for the Young Living Event Center on the campus of Utah Valley University on Friday, Jan. 29, 2021.
The area where the Young Living Alumni Center will be built is shown fenced off for the groundbreaking event on the campus of UVU on Friday, Jan. 29, 2021.
During a recent event on campus at Utah Valley University, President Astrid Tuminez referenced the numerous buildings that seem to be popping up on campus.
She continued, saying that while some may wonder about so much construction, it is needed with regards to the growth of the university and its short-lived designation as a four-year college.
Scott Cooksey, vice president of institutional advancement at UVU, laughed when talking about the amount of shovels he has in his office from groundbreakings. Cooksey responded by expressing the importance for the university to keep up with the student growth it has been seeing.
The on-campus development continued on Friday with the announcement of a $4.5 million gift from Young Living and the groundbreaking of a 31,401-square-foot Young Living Alumni Center.
“From the nature of this alumni center, the office building and the events center, it’s everything wrapped into one,” Cooksey said. “As we’ve grown, we have more external reach than we had in the past, we have more need to have external events on campus, we have more need to host our donors and to host our boards.”
The building has an estimated completion date in the spring of 2022 and includes 6,499 square feet of event space where all UVU executive functions will take place.
Another big element to the building will be its sustainable future, something that is important to UVU. It will have 15% better energy usage and 20% water usage than the current International Building Code.
With a growing alumni and campus community, Cooksey said the building will be a major part of the university going forward and it also will serve multiple purposes.
“Our division of institutional advancement is several different areas from fundraising, to alumni relations, to all the accounting for the foundation, back office operations, executive advancement, many things take place,” Cooksey said. “Not a large staff compared to other areas of the university, but large enough. Right now that staff is scattered in four old houses that are near campus. It’s hard to have a cohesive work group when everyone’s scattered around a little bit.”
From a work standpoint, the building will be a game changer, according to Cooksey, helping to bring the institutional advancement division into the same building.
When it comes to the $4.5 million donation from Young Living, Cooksey said it was critical to build a versatile building for UVU.
“I know a big, big part of their dedication and their mission is improving the wellbeing of people, and a big part of what UVU is all about is in our core values, encouraging students to come as you are,” Cooksey said. “We’re devoted to students in all walks of life to pursue a master’s, a bachelor’s, an associate’s degree or a certificate, whatever may be right for them. The two missions lined up pretty well and, we’re really fortunate that they, caught the vision and that we could partner together to make this thing come to reality.”
The alignment of missions is something that Young Living COO and President Joe Cannon brought up while talking about the donation.
Cannon particularly brought up how UVU has stuck to its roots, even after experiencing the massive growth the university has seen.
“We like UVU, I personally love UVU,” Cannon said. “I was a trustee there for several years, and I’ve watched them grow from not even a state college. When I got involved with it, it was Utah Valley Community College, then it became a state college, then a university. It’s really blossomed, but I think what’s really significant, and I think this was significant with Mary Young and for us at Young Living, is that it’s never really lost its roots. It’s still training young people and not just young people, middle-aged and older people who want to go back, learn and get training to do real work in the real world. I think they’ve always adhered to that sense of the roots.”
Young Living, a Lehi-based essential oils company, is also a part of the Utah County community, according to Cannon.
When UVU approached Young Living with the building and ideas, it was thought of as a “really good idea.”
“We feel like UVU represents a lot of people like us,” Cannon said. “They’ve kind of had an industrial sort of business beginning, and we just felt connected. Then Mary Young met with President Tuminez, and I think they connected really well. Mary felt like this would be a really good legacy for Young Living.”
Cannon added that Young Living believes the building will be a valuable asset to the university with the growing population, not only of students but also alumni.
“We’re fortunate that we lined up with Young Living and they lined up with us,” Cooksey said. “I think it’s going to be a feather in our cap, and we’re just very fortunate that Young Living wanted to partner with us on this. It’ll be a great thing, not just for the university as an institution but for our students.”
The UVU Young Living Alumni Center will be built just off of I-15, making it an accessible, high-impact addition to the university.