YOUNGSTOWN YSU rec center gets boost from Policy donation

YSU will be the only public Ohio university with a center built entirely with private funds.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Carmen A. Policy, president and chief executive officer of the Cleveland Browns, and his wife, Gail, have donated $150,000 to help Youngstown State University construct a new student recreation and wellness center.
"Youngstown State set the foundation for my life," said Policy, a 1963 YSU graduate. "It is one of the leading institutions of higher education in the state, and this new recreation center will make it even stronger."
The Policy gift puts the $12 million fund-raising campaign over the $10 million mark.
In recognition of the donation, the administrative offices in the new rec center will be named in honor of the Policys.
"It is only appropriate, in keeping with his professional career, that the front office of the center is named in Carmen and Gail's honor," YSU President David C. Sweet said.
The 65,000-square-foot recreation and wellness center will be the first building on the YSU campus constructed entirely with private funds since Ward Beecher Science Hall in 1967.
YSU will be the only public university in Ohio with a rec center built entirely with private funds.
Among the features
The center will feature a fitness center, climbing wall, weight room, jogging track, racquetball courts and a spiritual meditation room. It will be attached to the west end of YSU's Kilcawley Center.
Groundbreaking is expected in the spring, and the facility should be open in fall 2005.
The John S. and Doris M. Andrews Trust, named after the late financier and his wife, has pledged $2 million to the project. Other major contributions include $1.5 million from John and Denise York, $1 million from the Ward and Florence Simon Beecher Foundation, $750,000 from Anthony and Mary Lariccia and $500,000 from D.D. and Velma Davis.
Policy was born and reared in a neighborhood adjacent to the YSU campus known as Smoky Hollow. A graduate of Ursuline High School, Policy earned a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1966. He then returned to Youngstown and practiced law for several years.
He first stepped into the NFL in 1983 when he assumed the role of vice president and general counsel for the San Francisco 49ers. He was named NFL executive of the year in 1994 by The Sporting News and Pro Football Weekly.