Tobias Nutrition Center and Tobias Champions Locker Room

[Class of '66 Old Fart 80,959]

Fred has really been doing some serious fundraising.     http://iuhoosiers.com/news/2017/4/27/varsity-club-ambassador-randall-l-and-deborah-tobias-make-major-gift-to-for-all-the-indiana-university-bicentennial-campaign-in-support-of-iu-athletics.aspx

 

Ambassador Randall L. and Deborah Tobias Make Major Gift to “For All: The Indiana University Bicentennial Campaign” in Support of IU Athletics

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana University Vice-President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Fred Glass announced today a major gift from Ambassador Randall L. Tobias and his wife Deborah Tobias to the "For All: The Indiana University Bicentennial Campaign" in support of IU Athletics.  In recognition of their significant contribution, the new state-of-the-art nutrition facility and dining space in the new IU Excellence Academy will be named the "Tobias Nutrition Center," and the new courtside hospitality area in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall has been named the "Tobias Champions Locker Room."
 
As part of the Excellence Academy, the Tobias Nutrition Center will be home to one of the premier nutrition facilities and dining spaces in all of college athletics.  The nearly 10,000 square foot space will provide a place to fuel the nearly 650 students who participate in IU's 24 varsity sports.  The main dining area will have seating available for 300 people with various table sizes and includes large windows to allow for natural light and magnificent views into Memorial Stadium.  Large televisions will be also scattered throughout the area. 
 
Lunch and dinner will be served five days a week with a daily breakfast oasis for students.  Service will be in a food station concept with stations including Italian, grill, homestyle, subs and wraps, large salad, fruit and soup bar.  Menu items will be prepared fresh on site by dining staff at each of these stations.  The breakfast oasis will be a morning fueling station for students with a variety of options to start the day.  Two large beverage stations will be installed including a water bottle filling station as new electronic menu boards will display what is available each day. 

 

The Tobias Champions Locker Room is a new premiere hospitality area residing on the court level in the southwest tunnel of Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.  The recently renovated addition to the building is used on basketball game days as a way for the IU Varsity Club to continue building and encouraging support for IU students.
 
"These new state-of-the-art nutrition and dining facilities -- the most recent addition to our innovative and successful Excellence Academy -- promise to have a major impact on the academic and athletic development of our student athletes, while the new hospitality area will enhance the already thrilling experience of attending events at the newly renovated Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall," IU President Michael A. McRobbie said. "We are deeply grateful to Ambassador Tobias and his wife, Deborah, for their extraordinary support of IU and for their commitment to furthering the university's longstanding tradition of athletic excellence."
 
"On behalf of everyone affiliated with Indiana University, I want to thank Randy and Deborah Tobias for this magnificent gift to IU Athletics which is only the most recent example of their many generous contributions of time, talent and treasure to Indiana University," Glass said.  "On a more personal note I want to express my gratitude to both Randy and Deborah for their counsel, leadership and friendship."
 
Randall is retired chairman and CEO of Eli Lilly and Company. Prior to his work at Lilly, he was vice chairman of AT&T and chairman and CEO of its subsidiaries, AT&T Communications and AT&T International.
 
Following his corporate career, Randall was appointed the nation's first United States Global AIDS Coordinator with the rank of Ambassador.  Later, he became the first Director of United States Foreign Assistance and Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) with the rank of Deputy Secretary of State.  
 
Randall has served on the boards of a number of global companies including AT&T and Eli Lilly and Company, as well as ConocoPhillips, Kimberly-Clark, Knight-Ridder, Agilent Technologies and Chemical Bank of New York. He also served as the chairman of the board of the Indianapolis Airport Authority.  
 
"As the TV spots say, 'I wouldn't be where I am today without Indiana University!' It's therefore a real privilege to be able to find ways to give back to IU," Randall said. "We're particularly excited to be a part of both of these projects - projects that support our student athletes off the field as well as recognize and encourage other donors to continue their support."
 
Ambassador Tobias holds a B.S. from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, an honorary LL.D. from IU and five other honorary degrees.  Randall currently serves as a director of the Indiana University Foundation and has served as chairman of the Kelley School's Dean's Advisory Council and as a director of the IU Varsity Club. He was inducted into the Kelley School's Academy of Alumni Fellows and also received the IU Distinguished Alumni Service Award. He is the immediate past chairman of the Indiana University Board of Trustees. 
 
Deborah retired from professional life in 2001, after a successful career ranging from teaching high school English to serving as the Director of European Sales Operations for Juniper Networks.  She is currently involved with the Methodist Health Foundation, the Tindley Accelerated Schools, Central Indiana United Way and the Red Cross Tiffany Circle.  Beyond that, her primary focus is to be an always-available grandmother to their six grandchildren.
 
Deborah grew up in the Irvington neighborhood of Indianapolis and attended Our Lady of the Lourdes School. 
 
In 2004, the Tobias Family Foundation founded the Tobias Center for Leadership Excellence at Indiana University. In 2016 with an initial gift from his wife Deborah to recognize his 75th birthday, together they founded the Tobias Center for International Development at the Indiana University School of Global and International Studies.
 
The Excellence Academy program is one of the most innovative and effective personal development programs in all of intercollegiate athletics.  It focuses on the holistic development of the entire person to provide students an exceptional college experience in addition to athletics that will prepare them for an outstanding life experience after athletics.  The Excellence Academy complements IU's world class academic support and athletic performance services to provide comprehensive personal development programs in four major areas to help prepare young men and women for great lives and success after college: leadership and life skills; health and wellness; service learning; and career development.  The Excellence Academy helps to teach students how to impact lives, starting with their own, and change the world.
 
On Friday, the University will conduct the formal groundbreaking on the Excellence Academy building which will provide a home for and thereby enhance the Excellence Academy program.  The Excellence Academy is a $53 million, 66,575 square foot facility which will close in the south end zone of Memorial Stadium and create a bold new "front door" to campus for Memorial Stadium and more generally the Athletics campus.  The Excellence Academy will open in the summer of 2018.

[Hoosierfan2017 19,887]

Do the athletes get the food for free or is it like the other regular food courts?

[WayneFleekHoosier 46,747]

Wow. Fred Glass is a fundraising mofo. Kudos.


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[Brass Cannon 24,064]

Awesome get, I would like us to get some on campus dorms on par with UK and Kansas next though.  

[Hoosierfan2017 19,887]

21 minutes ago, Brass Cannon said:

Awesome get, I would like us to get some on campus dorms on par with UK and Kansas next though.  

I don't really like the campus dorms that UK and Kansas have where the players are separated from the rest of the student body. I think it creates a divide and makes it seem like they're just basketball players and not students too. The players here already live in really nice dorms their freshmen year and then they can live wherever off campus after that. 

[Brass Cannon 24,064]

4 minutes ago, Hoosierfan2017 said:

I don't really like the campus dorms that UK and Kansas have where the players are separated from the rest of the student body. I think it creates a divide and makes it seem like they're just basketball players and not students too. The players here already live in really nice dorms their freshmen year and then they can live wherever off campus after that. 

It's a recruiting disadvantage 

[Hoosierfan2017 19,887]

7 minutes ago, Brass Cannon said:

It's a recruiting disadvantage 

I disagree. At IU the basketball players live in the same dorm building as the prettiest freshmen girls. The floors are coed, and the dorm was renovated just a few years ago. With nice looking dorms and an abundance of shameless jersey chasers down the hall I can't see them complaining about their living situation. 

[Walking Boot of Doom 18,170]

I disagree. At IU the basketball players live in the same dorm building as the prettiest freshmen girls. The floors are coed, and the dorm was renovated just a few years ago. With nice looking dorms and an abundance of shameless jersey chasers down the hall I can't see them complaining about their living situation. 

This same situation also exposed them to the daily risk of HovaHugs. It's definitely a give-take situation.


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[Hoosierfan2017 19,887]

1 hour ago, Walking Boot of Doom said:

This same situation also exposed them to the daily risk of HovaHugs. It's definitely a give-take situation.


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Yeah there are definitely positives to having the dorm setup that Kansas and Kentucky have. I bet it's awesome for the few select students that get to live there with them. I just don't think that it's that big of an advantage that we're being hurt by not having something similar. 

With the way Fred's raking in the donor money though he'll probably be able to build a castle for all the student athletes here soon. 

[Hovadipo 52,951]

This same situation also exposed them to the daily risk of HovaHugs. It's definitely a give-take situation.


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No dorm living for this guy. The only way they got lucky enough to get a hug was in class or out on the town.

[RBB89 3,497]

On 4/27/2017 at 4:11 PM, Hoosierfan2017 said:

Do the athletes get the food for free or is it like the other regular food courts?

 I'm pretty sure it's free for them. The current training table is in the cramped Hoosier Room under the west stands of Memorial Stadium.