Two long-time supporters of UCLA have donated $10 million to the Wasserman Football Center planned on campus, UCLA Athletics announced today.
Jim and Carol Collins, who met while they were UCLA students in the 1940s, will have part of the training facility named in their honor. In addition, the east plaza of Pauley Pavilion will now be known as the Collins Family Plaza.
“It is gratifying for Carol and me to be able to support the university we love,” said Jim Collins, chairman emeritus of Sizzler International. “Over many years, we have enjoyed following and supporting UCLA football, along with all of the great sports programs at UCLA. We hope this gift will allow UCLA to continue to have great success both academically and competitively. We are proud to invest in UCLA football and be a part of such an important project.”
UCLA Athletics has raised more than $53 million in cash and pledges for the Wasserman center. The building’s groundbreaking is being planned for this fall.
The state-of-the-art football center — to be located west of Spaulding Field, where the team practices — will house a locker room, athletic training area, strength and conditioning facility, coaches’ offices, team meeting rooms, equipment rooms and video rooms, in addition to elements highlighting the storied history of UCLA football.
“Jim and Carol Collins have long known that UCLA is a special place for our student-athletes to compete and pursue their dreams,” said head football coach Jim Mora. “In fact, they themselves lived it. For them to give back in the manner that they have is a remarkable testament not only to their philanthropy and who they are as people, but to the importance those four special letters carry. Because of the generosity of the Collins family and many others, the Wasserman Football Center has not only become a reality, it is poised to become one of the nation’s premier football facilities.”
The facility is named the Wasserman Football Center in recognition of support from the Wasserman Foundation and its president, UCLA alumnus Casey Wasserman.
