Aug. 29, 2019

Dakota State University’s plans for a massive new athletics complex just got a $10 million jump-start from First Premier Bank, Premier Bankcard, and Miles and Lisa Beacom.

The bank, credit card company and Beacom, who is CEO of First Premier Bankcard, contributed the lead gift toward DSU’s Trojans Unite campaign. The ultimate goal is $90 million in improvements to athletic facilities, beginning with a new two-story concourse and facilities for outdoor sports and future sports.

“Here at Dakota State, we’re building champions, not just on the field or on the court but in the classroom and research labs. We’re building champions who succeed in life and in their careers by giving them the best experience possible,” DSU president José-Marie Griffiths said in a statement.

“An important part of that experience includes athletics. In order to continue to rise as an institution, we must offer our student athletes facilities that reflect our commitment to them.”

This is what the improvements related to the football field and concourse are proposed to include:

The first phase of projects is estimated at $42 million and also includes an eight-lane, 400-meter track and additional  improvements, such as VIP suites, training space for field events, fan seating and a grass soccer field.

A baseball diamond with seating for 1,000 and a softball field with seating for 500 will be added as well

For Beacom, a 1981 graduate of DSU’s business program, track was part of his college experience. He competed for the Trojans in track and cross country, earning a place in the school’s Athletics Hall of Fame.

“DSU has been a real special place for me ever since I walked onto the campus as a freshman and had an opportunity to compete in cross country and track, but I think even more important are just the tools it gave me to be successful,” Beacom said in an interview.

“I haven’t forgotten that, and Lisa and I want to be able to help give those tools to current and future students so they can be successful as well. With the success DSU is having, what an incredible opportunity. They’re receiving national recognition, and the classrooms are up to speed, and now (it’s time) to really look at athletic facilities. I just think it’s a great partnership between First Premier and Premier Bankcard and Lisa and myself to kick-start this program. Now we can start believing it’s going to happen.”

The Beacoms have a long history of philanthropy at DSU, including a $30 million donation made in 2017 in partnership with Denny Sanford toward cybersecurity and the Madison Cyber Labs building, and a $5 million gift in 2013 toward the Beacom Institute of Technology. Their latest shared donation represents the largest ever to DSU Athletics.

“Kids throughout the Midwest enjoy sports and aren’t ready to give them up,” Beacom said. “This gives them the opportunity to go to an incredible university and have the facilities they can perform in, first-class facilities. For me, I had the opportunity when I graduated from Lincoln High School to go to larger schools, but I wanted to go to a smaller school. And I picked DSU and just loved the campus and community and professors and coaches, and they gave you all the extra time you needed. I was just always impressed by how they wanted you to succeed. It was very, very special.”

The next phase of the Trojans United campaign calls for a 2,000-seat event center for basketball and volleyball as well as an outdoor plaza.

The third phase includes an indoor practice facility and renovations to the existing field house.

Athletics represents “a critical area of improvement for the university, as the athletics facilities are outdated and inadequate for a competitive collegiate program,” athletics director Jeff Dittman said.

The improvements come with an aggressive timeline. The goal is to gain approval from the South Dakota Board of Regents before the end of the year and start construction on track, baseball and softball facilities in 2020. Football and the concourse would follow in 2021, and the events center potentially could start that year too.

All renderings are by JLG Architects and represent concept plans.