When you’re a Spartan and hear “Go Green!”, protocol has you respond “Go White!”
If you’re Scott and Patricia (Pat) Eston, “Go Green!” represents something different: a strategic investment in the Broad College of Business Pavilion’s sustainable business operations. The Estons, who graduated from the Broad College of Business in 1978, established the Scott and Pat Eston Fund for Sustainability with a $400,000 gift to outfit the Business Pavilion with energy-saving technologies.
“The face of higher education is changing before our eyes. Today, it reflects what students, faculty, and universities see as their greatest needs and priorities – which is broader than purely academics. We know technology and sustainability will shape how we, as a college, deliver our innovative curriculum and shape business leaders of tomorrow,” said Sanjay Gupta, the Eli and Edythe L. Broad Dean of the Eli Broad College of Business. “As a result of the Estons’ investment, the space in which our students learn is cutting-edge, and demonstrates our commitment to a sustainable environment and future,” he said.
Beyond the impact the Estons’ gift will have on the Pavilion’s sustainable operations, it will serve as a vehicle to help students understand the implications of sustainability in business decisions.
The Pavilion renderings serve as a preview to demonstrate the building’s sustainable operations. Funding from the Estons will support efficiencies to achieve the LEED gold status.
The Estons are no strangers to investing in modernizing the Broad College of Business. In 2013, they made a $1 million multi-year pledge to the Financial Markets Institute (FMI), undergraduate scholarships, and research in the Department of Accounting and Information Systems. Their gift has enabled cutting-edge research by faculty and doctoral students in the AIS department, such as access to rare and unique data sets on phenomena such as crowd-sourcing, audit quality, and health care quality.
Apart from their investment in the Broad College’s sustainable future, the Estons have been “going green” through years of commitment to MSU. Scott serves as the MSU Foundation Vice-Chair, and Investment Committee and Subcommittee Chair, and is a former member to the Broad College Alumni Advisory Board.
“MSU gave me a great foundation. Pat and I are thrilled that our support will make a difference in creating opportunities for more Spartans to go on to do great things,” Scott says.
