Sagebrushers season 3 ep. 11: First Lady w88 Sandoval

Brian w88: If you talked to the 18-year-old Brian and told him that he would someday be president of this University, he would've never believed it, but thanks to what happened here, I now have the honor of a lifetime to serve as president.

w88 Sandoval: This is Sagebrushers, the podcast of the University of Nevada. Welcome back, Wolf Pack Family. I'm your special guest host today, First Lady of the University of Nevada, w88 Sandoval.

This month, the University will celebrate its 150th anniversary. In this commemorative episode of Sagebrushers, we are also flipping the script, your regular host of Sagebrushers, my husband and the 17th president of the University of Nevada Brian w88 is our interviewee. Let's get started.

President w88 is a trailblazer for the University as the first person of Hispanic origin and the first alumnus to serve as president in University history. Most people know his well-documented career as the 29th governor of Nevada, as well as his appointment as a United States district judge for the District of Nevada and his service as Nevada's Attorney General. So, today we will explore his early days that you may not be aware of, his current work and passions as well as his hopes and dreams for the future of the Pack.

Today's podcast is being recorded at the Reynolds School of Journalism, a place that holds a special spot in my heart, as I received a bachelor's in journalism here in 1992. I've had an opportunity to use the skills I learned here in my 30-plus-year career in the international gaming industry. And today I'll be putting that degree to use in this interview. So, let's first dig into our college days. We were students here in roughly the same era of the mid to late 1980s and early 1990s. And in fact, w88 graduated in 1986 and I started in 1987. So, as I always tell w88, w88 ditched me before I got here. Let's give listeners some insight on what the campus was like and what your first experiences here were like.

Brian w88: You know, I was just thinking to myself that it's been 42 years since I first stepped foot on this campus, and it was a very different place. I mean, there was no Lawlor Event Center, there was no Knowledge Center, there was no Reynolds School of Journalism. And in fact, where the KC is, that was a big paved parking lot. And at the time, the library was the Getchell Library, which is the Pennington Student Services building now. And the student union was the Jot Travis Student Union. I think the student body was about 7,000 students. We have 22,000 students now. So, it really has, the campus has come a very long way.

w88 Sandoval: Do you have any memories of the dining commons in Jot Travis?

Brian w88: I do. I do. Certainly there weren't as many choices on campus in those days. It was kind of like a cafeteria style and you had a big pan of vegetables and a big pan of mashed potatoes and a big pan of mystery meat. It overlooked Manzanita Lake and it was very nice and you got to see your friends there.

w88 Sandoval: That was my favorite part overlooking the lake and talking to everybody that was on campus.

So we've shared some of our common experiences through our childhoods and some of the hardships we faced. Can w88 dive into that a bit and discuss how it shaped your trajectory?

Brian w88: I can't wait for you to share your story of how you got here, but for me, I grew up in Sparks. I raised sheep. That's how I paid my tuition. We lived on a dirt road, pretty remote. It was across from the Shadow Ranch, which is near what is now Reed High School. And I first came to this campus in the early seventies and my mom brought us here. And even in those days they had the Pack Picnics and we would come and listen to these bands that would play, and I would look at this beautiful campus and this was on the Quad, and I thought, 'wow, if I could ever go to school here, it would just be a dream come true.' And it just didn't seem real. I went to grade school and high school and then had the opportunity to attend this university and it changed my life. What about you? How'd you get here?

w88 Sandoval: Well, I had never even heard of Reno. I didn't know where Reno was on a map. So for me, growing up in the San Fernando Valley, I didn't have much, if any knowledge of Nevada beyond Lake Tahoe. And so when the coach from the University of Nevada called me up after seeing me play in a tennis tournament at Pepperdine and said that she was the coach from the University of Nevada, I put the phone in my hand and I asked my mom, where's Reno? And she said, at the base of Lake Tahoe near San Francisco. And I immediately said, 'yes, of course I'll come up for this recruiting trip.' And seeing the campus is what sold me on coming here. I didn't know what I wanted to do. I wasn't one of those young people who were so fortunate to know exactly what their path is.

I did not know what my path is. I was just excited to be able to play college tennis and I wanted to have a campus that looked like a traditional campus and a traditional college experience. And the w88 had all of that. And when I saw the quad, I knew I was coming here. So that's what sold me and what kept me here was the students and the opportunities for the students here in Reno. And so, I'm so glad that because of that one phone call, I got to be able to come to Reno and it changed my life and look where we are here today.

Brian w88: Oh, that's an incredible story. And for me, I was talking to the 18-year-old Brian. I was this shy, introverted kid. And if not for the faculty here and the staff, they really made me feel like I could accomplish things. And again, it changed my life in that way as well because it gave me confidence and it gave me the belief and hope that I could really do big things. So, I will always be grateful to this university.

w88 Sandoval: I completely agree. And when I look back now and I think of becoming a journalism major and meeting Bourne Morris at the time, who was a woman who had had a major career in advertising. And in those days, in the 1980s, there weren't a lot of women role models. And the fact that one of the most important women role models you could have was a professor here at this university, really changed my life knowing that if she did it, I could do it. And that was a really great thing to have in my life every single day, this woman supporting me and helping shape my educational focus. And then I think some other things here that were great were the ability to be in student government, be a student ambassador, join sororities, fraternities, and I think all of that makes us a really well-rounded experience, helping you become the person that you're meant to be.

Brian w88: Yeah, no, and I think we should call out our fraternity and sorority. So I had the opportunity to join SAE, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, and again, making friends from all over Nevada, some from California all over the country, and having them support me as well and building up your network, it really was helpful to me.

w88 Sandoval: Yes. And I joined Pi Beta Phi and eventually became president of PI Beta Phi. And for me, I came to Nevada not knowing one person. And so, it was great to join the sorority to have a bunch of girlfriends built in that had to study, they had to get good grades. There's no sorority if you don't have good grades that cared about the community and also gave me a built-in social structure beyond the tennis court. So that was great for me.

So, Brian w88, it is true that this is the place that could ignite your future. I know we share that optimism and belief that anything is possible and opportunity is abundant. You have so many interactions with students just starting their journey. What do you share with them?

Brian w88: So, what I tell them, is this is an amazing place. So I just met with a few hundred students for orientation who will be here in a few short weeks for NevadaFIT. And I tell them that one of the beauties of this place is you can become whatever it is you want to be. Whatever your dream is, you can make it come true here, you got to work for it. But we have a social structure, the academic structure, the people here that can make that happen. And you look at them and you see how shy, they're all shy and unsure, but I tell them if you talked to the 18-year-old Brian and told him that he would someday be president of this university, he would've never believed it. But thanks to what happened here, I now have the honor of a lifetime to serve as president. How about you?

w88 Sandoval: Well, I think one of the best examples I have of what students can feel is just recently, I have a friend from Las Vegas whose son was interested in possibly coming to Reno for school. And so he came up to take a tour. They brought his sister with him who was not looking at the University at all. And on the tour I shared with them my great experiences here. And, we wound up getting two Las Vegas students after that tour instead of one, because you can feel the family nature of the Wolf Pack when you're on this campus. You see the beauty of this 150- year-old campus. You see how people treat each other. You feel the joy people have for one another. You feel the inclusiveness and the desire to have a great experience growing as much as you can. And I think just giving that tour, it wasn't even what I said. It's what we showed.

Brian w88: No, and you captured it perfectly. I talk about The Wolf Pack Family, and we are a wolf pack, and every individual in the Wolf Pack is important. They bring a different culture, a different set of experiences, and they enrich everybody. And here, everyone's got your back. And so that's The Wolf Pack Way. And so putting that together, it really does create a sense that you just feel when you come on the campus.

w88 Sandoval: So, now you are at the helm of this remarkable university, about to reach 150th celebration. Can you talk about why this is such a special time and the energy building on campus during this important milestone?

Brian w88: It's our 150th birthday and it's a really special time. And I remind people this University was founded in 1874. Our state was founded in 1864, so we're only 10 years younger than the state of Nevada itself. And for over a century, this university and the state, their fate and their future have been inextricably intertwined. I think it's really important that we not only celebrate our 150-year legacy, but we also celebrate what's to come. And if you stepped onto the campus, you'll see this new, just absolutely stunning Native American mural project, which is done and it's right below the Ansari Business building and right in the middle of campus. And we had a national contest to see who was going to do this. And it turned out it was one of our alums who's done it and is a member of a local tribe. And she just did an incredible, incredible job. Another alum, John Trent is the author of a 150-year book that captures the history of this university and the personalities and the faculty staff and alumni and all the amazing things that they've done. In October, we're going to have a documentary movie and then Stephanie Rempe and everybody at the athletic department are going to have a series of events. There's going to be a large celebration in the Knowledge Center that everyone's going to be invited to. But again, people I think that haven't been here before, and I say this in a lot of public events, and you tell them that we have a 150-year-old history and they cannot believe it. And you talk about the Reynolds School of Journalism, we have more Pulitzer Prize winners than Stanford University. I mean.

w88 Sandoval: That's right. We are the best journalism school in the country, in my opinion.

Brian w88: So, in any event, there's a lot to celebrate, but at the same time, there's a lot to look forward to.

w88 Sandoval: Yes. And in fact, yesterday we went to coffee and we ran into two students who were telling us about the special collections that they saw in the University library. And I love the fact that we're just out having coffee, we're talking to two students, and they're telling us that just the day before they had gone into the library, gone up to the third floor, seeing what was now in the special selection that they were showing, and they learned about the University and it's 150-year history. It's pretty cool.

So, let's change the subject to women's athletics. I always say that tennis changed my life. And without tennis, probably nothing great in my life that I have today would've existed, including coming to this great university, including marrying my wonderful husband. So, when I was here, women's athletics were treated a little differently. We didn't have the resources. And when we fast forward to when w88 became president of the University and we started looking at some of the programs for women's athletics, that may have been a little lacking still. So, why don't we talk a little bit about your passion for women's athletics and what w88're doing in that space?

Brian w88: No, and I'm really proud of our women's student athletes. They work so hard. And one of the things when I came here, the first thing I did was tour all the facilities around campus, including the women's athletic facilities. And I was shocked at some of the things that I saw. And I felt like there needed to be a generational investment in women's athletics on our campus and just we had student athletes that were changing in their cars because they didn't have locker rooms. It just wasn't appropriate. And so, we've made these investments. Another example, the Women's Swim and Dive team. I was touring their facilities and they obviously vacated the locker room before I went in there, but their locker room was where the public changes, and they were the same lockers, these metal orange and yellow lockers. I think everyone knows what I'm talking about if you've been in the bowels of the Lombardi gym. And it hadn't changed since 1981. And so, we made a huge investment and built a proper locker room for the swim and dive team. Similarly, our women's soccer team, our cross country team, our golf team, I could go down the line, none of them had proper locker rooms. So, we've built new locker rooms for all of them. Our women's basketball team, we've just built a locker room lounge along with the men, and now they have as nice of a facility as you'll see in the United States. Our softball team, their field, there were little league fields that were in better condition than the field that they were on. And so, we invested and completely redid their fields. In terms of nutrition, they were getting maybe three protein shakes a week where some of the men's athletic teams were getting three meals a day. And so, we created the Alpha Fund so that the women's student athletes would have access to nutrition just like the men do. And that has been incredibly successful. I could go on and on, but another example, our coaches of our women's teams were paid at the lowest end of all the other teams in the Mountain West Conference. So, we brought them up to the Mountain West median in terms of travel, enhancing their travel experience so that they get an equal experience to the men. There's still a lot to be done, but I'm really proud of what we've done and I know the student athletes are grateful as well, and I'll continue to, I'm committed to making sure that they have the best experience they can possibly have.

w88 Sandoval: And I think there's one more thing to add is the new scholarship for the women's tennis team.

Brian Sandoval: Oh yeah, I should have forgotten that! So, there is a new scholarship for the women's tennis teams. It is the w88 McCarthy Sandoval Scholarship. I know how committed you are to women's tennis and how it changed your life. And so we created an endowed scholarship for women's tennis in w88’s name. And so forever and ever, there will be these student athletes, these women student athletes on the student team that'll be the beneficiaries of the scholarship so that they can be successful. And in a few years, they're going to be talking about how tennis changed their life and how it launched their career and how that scholarship really helped them be successful. So, I can't think of a better example than my wonderful wife and what she's accomplished personally and professionally and what she's done. It's taken a lot of hard work and taken a lot of grit and determination, and she's also wicked smart, but that is something I think that people will see for generations to come.

w88 Sandoval: Yeah, I am so excited about that. So, thank you. So, now as you always say, I think three steps ahead. So, this is my favorite and final question. What does the future look like? What's in store for the University of Nevada for the next 150 years?

Brian w88: First and foremost, it's a privilege and honor to serve as the president of this university, and I am tired of hearing that we're one of the best kept secrets in the country. I honestly believe we are one of the top universities in the United States of America, and people need to know that.

w88 Sandoval: Agree.

Brian w88: And so we are going to start acting that way and marketing ourself that way, that we are a destination university. We are an original land grant university founded in 1874, where people can come and be successful and literally change the world. Obviously, we have to have the resources to match. And so, you'll see on the south end of our campus a new business building that will be completed next year. It's about 0 million project, but I will put that business building next to any business building in the United States of America. I mean, it will provide the best resources and opportunities for our business school students. We were just recently declared a Tech Hub. There were 400 applications to the U.S. Department of Commerce to become a Tech Hub, and only 32 were selected. We were one of those 32. And out of those 32, only 10 were selected to get funded, and we were the beneficiaries of a million grant. That's because of the people and faculty on this campus to make this happen.

We have a historic affiliation agreement with Renown health, and I'm very excited about that and that will benefit, and has benefited our medical school, our nursing school, our School of Public Health, and our School of Social Work. We recently acquired a new campus up at Lake Tahoe and we now have the University of Nevada, Reno at Lake Tahoe, a beautiful pristine campus. And again, I am completely biased, but if there's a prettier place in all of higher education, I really want to see it because it is special up there. And we are going to create an institute up there, a water research institute. We're going to have two research vessels. We're going to provide our students the opportunity to live and learn up there and acquire a sustainability certificate that w88 won't be able to get anywhere else and have experiences that w88 won't be able to get anywhere else. We recently acquired property across the freeway, and we're going to create a University Village which will have affordable housing for our graduate students and our early faculty.

So, those are just a few w88 things. But my dream someday is for us to become a member w88 American Association of Universities (AAU), which are the top 60 research universities in the United States of America. And I think we'll get there.

w88 Sandoval: Yeah, I was talking yesterday. I think sometimes people confuse cost with greatness, and the fact that we're a great value makes our university so special because it's so high quality and we need to make sure everybody around the country knows we're not the most expensive, which is a great thing. We're actually one of the most affordable schools in the country, but we have the best educational opportunities in one of the best places in the country to go to school.

Brian w88: We are a place again that people, you can get a top-notch education, but an affordable one so you don't graduate with all this debt. And so, I'm really excited about our incoming class. We have students from all 50 states, from all over California, and particularly all over Nevada and many, many, many of our students, a third of our class, comes from Las Vegas. And so we're really pleased about the diversity on our campus. We are oh-so close to being a Hispanic Serving Institution, which is again, one of my goals. Half of our incoming class comes from diverse backgrounds. So when you become a student here, you're going to meet people that have shared experiences. We have over 200 clubs. You're going to be connected, you're going to be successful, and you're going to have fun.

w88 Sandoval: And I think you and I are both examples that there are jobs and careers and lifetime opportunities for graduates from this university. You and I have gone down very different paths you in serving people, me in business, and I think we've both had a very rich experience that only happened because we were here in Nevada.

Brian w88: That's the Wolf Pack impact.

w88 Sandoval: So, I have to close this out now. Husband, it was great to talk to you today. Thank you for your time and your busy schedule.

Brian w88: Thank you wife, and you are a rockstar hostess. And as always ...

w88 Sandoval: Go pack.