UH cashing in on
name recognition

If you've got the money and the inclination to support public higher education, the University of Hawaii Foundation wants to talk to you about "naming opportunities."

UH is joining private schools and a growing number of public universities in naming everything from theater seats at Paliku Theatre at Windward Community College ($1,000 donation), to an imu pit/outdoor baking and barbecue area at the new Culinary Institute of the Pacific at Kapiolani Community College ($300,000 donation), to a simulated hospital room at the new John A. Burns School of Medicine ($50,000 donation).

"If you're a Punahou alum or if you went to USC or Harvard, everything is named," said Donna Vuchinich, president of the UH Foundation, which is in the middle of a campaign to raise more than $250 million by the university's centennial in 2007.

"We're not trying to rename names given to public buildings. We're naming spaces within the new buildings in order to have perpetual funding to maintain them and to maintain the programs, to really perpetuate that margin of excellence," she said.

For really generous donors to the medical school, $5 million will allow you to name the Health Sciences Library, $3 million will pay for state-of-the-art technology named after yourself in the Simulation Center and $10 million will give you naming rights to one of four floors of the building.

If all the naming opportunities are cashed in, more than $100 million will be raised for equipment and endowments.

"What this is about is to raise money to help support the programs that we want to develop," said Sam Shomaker, interim director of the medical school.

"For those willing to make that kind of investment, I see nothing wrong with giving them public recognition for the kind of support they are giving us," he added.

At last month's meeting, the Board of Regents approved the naming opportunities at the medical school and $2 million worth of naming opportunities for an endowment for the Paliku Theatre.

At another meeting earlier this year, the regents approved a schedule to raise more than $24 million for the new culinary institute at Kapiolani Community College at the former Cannon Club site.

Vuchinich said more naming opportunities will be proposed for the new Cancer Research Center building and other new buildings in the UH system.

The first naming opportunities are expected to be announced within the next few months.

"We have a couple of things we're negotiating at the moment," Shomaker said.

What's in a name?

Here are some naming opportunities available for donors who want to support the University of Hawaii:

John A. Burns School of Medicine

Health Sciences Library: $5 million
Learning Resource Center: $2 million
Computer lab/classroom: $500,000
Simulation Center: $3 million
Learning Resource Center: $2 million
Center for Clinical Skills: $2 million
Simulated doctor's office: $50,000
Simulated hospital room: $50,000
Student lounge: $50,000
Floors (4): $10 million each
Wings (6): $5 million each
Entrance Hall/Main Lobby: $5 million
Auditorium: $2 million
Cafe: $2 million
Healing Garden: $1 million
Outdoor Lanai: $1 million
Ewa Classroom: $200,000
Faculty/Alumni Lounge: $50,000
Reception Areas: $35,000

Paliku Theatre Endowment

Auditorium: $1 million
Lobby: $150,000
Mezzanine: $100,000
Scene Shop: $100,000
Drama/Dance Studio: $100,000
Costume Shop: $75,000
Ticket/Box Office: $50,000
Green Room: $50,000
Individual Seats (294): $1,000

Culinary Institute of the Pacific

Building (Phase I): $7 million
Signature Restaurant (Dining w/ Lanai): $1 million
Signature Restaurant (Open Kitchen): $1 million
Signature Restaurant (Cocktail Bar): $500,000
Gift Shop: $200,000
Competition/Demo Support Kitchen: $300,000
Imu Pit/Outdoor Baking/Barbecue: $300,000
Classrooms (2 available): $150,000
Lobby: $500,000
Locker/Shower: $300,000
Building (Phase II): $2.5 million
Wine and Spirit Training Room: $500,000
Farm to Table Training Room: $500,000
Farm Plots (10 available): $125,000 each

SOURCE: UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII