UCCS will name a new main stage theater after Chancellor Emerita Pam Shockley-Zalabak following the completion of a $1.5 million fundraising campaign.
CU Regent Kyle Hybl and his wife Sally, both CU graduates and longtime residents of Colorado Springs, spearheaded the effort.
The funds will name the Ent Center for the Arts main stage theater after Shockley-Zalabak who retired in February after a distinguished career at CU’s designated growth campus. Shockley-Zalabak began her UCCS career in 1976 as an honorarium instructor and progressed through faculty and administrative ranks until she was named interim chancellor in 2001 and chancellor in 2002.
“Pam built her 40-year legacy at UCCS by bringing people together. It is only fitting that a permanent space on campus designed to do just that bear her name,” Venkat Reddy, interim chancellor, said. “I want to thank Kyle and Sally Hybl for their leadership and vision behind this collaborative effort as we honor Pam and the legacy she has imprinted upon UCCS.”
Currently under construction, the $70 million UCCS Ent Center for the Arts will have five performance venues, rehearsal studios, classrooms, practice rooms, balconies and gardens. A dedication event for the Shockley-Zalabak Theater is tentatively planned for February 2018.
“Pam’s personal love and dedication to the arts is unmatched, and we are pleased to support this effort to honor her legacy,” said Ed Osborne who with his wife Mary donated to the campaign.
More than 219 donors, including faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members, supported the campaign. A $75,000 commitment from the Boettcher Foundation propelled the campaign to its finish.
“I am thrilled to honor Pam as my life would certainly have been different without her mentorship,” said UCCS alumna Pam Keller who contributed to the campaign. “I first met Pam in 2009 while we were both serving on a community committee and through our time together she discovered that I had nearly completed my degree but had not finished it. With her support and encouragement, I did return to UCCS and now I’m proud to say I am a first-generation graduate. Pam’s compassion for others, her drive to get things done, and her vision for the community and UCCS inspire us all to strive for excellence.”
For more information on how to support the Shockley-Zalabak Theater, please visit https://giving.cu.edu/fund/shockley-zalabak-theater-fund.
— Melanie Sidwell, CU Office of Advancement
Leave a Reply