DSU announces Trojans Unite Comprehensive Campaign

April 1, 2022

Dakota State is launching the Trojans Unite Comprehensive Campaign (TUCC) with a fundraising goal of $250 million.

Miles and Lisa Beacom, longtime Dakota State University supporters, will chair the campaign.

“We both love South Dakota and we love being able to help have an impact on Dakota State and South Dakota,” said Miles Beacom, ’81 alumnus, CEO of PREMIER Bankcard. “And it’s fun watching the excitement at Dakota State and in the Madison community, and now it’s overflowing into Sioux Falls with the new partnership.”

The TUCC has three pillars of focus Trojans Unite Building Champions, Trojans Unite Cyber-Research Initiative, and Trojans Unite Academic Success. Each pillar has its own fundraising goal and purpose.

Trojans Unite Building Champions has a fundraising goal of $100 million to develop the athletics events center, arena, indoor track, and training facility, outdoor plaza, and baseball and softball fields. A total of $45 million has been raised for this pillar.

“The Trojans Unite Athletics Facilities will be transformative for Dakota State University and the Madison community,” said Jon Schemmel, CEO of the DSU Foundation. “They will significantly enhance the overall student experience at DSU while drastically improving our hospitality for our friends, fans, alumni, and community leaders for years to come.”

The Cyber-Research Initiative has a $90 million fundraising goal, which has been reached. It is a multi-party private/public partnership that will expand DSU’s Applied Research Lab to Sioux Falls and increase DSU’s educational capacity in Madison to produce more graduates of The Beacom College of Computer & Cyber Sciences.

The partnership for this initiative includes T. Denny Sanford, Sanford Health, the cities of Madison and Sioux Falls, Forward Sioux Falls, and the state of South Dakota in conjunction with Dakota State University and the Board of Regents.

“We created a vision to expand DSU’s Applied Research Lab (ARL) to stimulate a vibrant cyber-research industry in Sioux Falls which supports national security and defense, offers workforce and economic development opportunities, and establishes South Dakota as a cyber state,” said DSU President José-Marie Griffiths.

The third pillar is Academic Success, which has a fundraising goal of $60 million, and will support scholarships, speaker series, endowed chairs, and provide programmatic funding including lab and classroom equipment.

The Academic Success pillar is critical to sustain the Building Champions and Cyber-Research Initiative pillars to ensure continued success for Dakota State.

“This is a tremendous opportunity to participate in, probably the biggest thing in South Dakota since Citi Bank, which changed the landscape of South Dakota back in the early 80s,” Beacom said. “This is truly for Dakota State, Madison, Sioux Falls, the entire state of South Dakota.”