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Don Constantini’s $1 million gift to YSU will help build media center
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
A gift to the university from a businessman and Youngstown State University graduate will benefit academics and athletics.
Don Constantini, founder of Falcon Transport and Comprehensive Logistics and a 1966 YSU alumnus, is donating $1 million toward construction of a multimedia center on the east side of Stambaugh Stadium.
“I’m fortunate to be able to give back to YSU,” Constantini said at the Tuesday morning announcement at the stadium.
The new center will benefit both student athletics and academics, he said.
The Don Constantini Multimedia Center will house classrooms and laboratories for YSU’s communications department and game-day activities at all stadium events.
Constantini, who lives in Canfield, views the university as an important part of the community.
“YSU is absolutely vital to our community,” he said.
YSU President Jim Tressel said this gift is just the latest from Constantini to YSU.
“No one has loved the university and the university football program and the university’s academics more than Don Constantini,” he said.
Constantini donated $150,000 to the YSU Foundation to endow a scholarship to a football student-athlete majoring in business, $150,000 toward the Andrews Student Recreation and Wellness Center and $200,000 to construction of the Williamson College of Business Administration building.
Tressel said students are required to take a communication course, and that class will be in the new multimedia center.
Work on the new center is expected to begin after the 2016 football season and be completed for the 2017 season.
Adam Earnheardt, chairman of YSU’s communication department, said the center will house the university’s sports-broadcasting program.
YSU started offering its sports-broadcasting program a few semesters ago, but Earnheardt said the new center will support the program even more.
“We’re now on the same playing field as other universities that have sports broadcasting in this state and in the country,” Earnheardt said.
The center will be well used by students both on game days and during the week, he said.
“You’ll see students in there five, six days a week during the semester,” Earnheardt said.
Senior Lincoln Williams of Liberty looks forward to using the new center when he enrolls at YSU as a graduate student.
Williams, who is studying sports broadcasting, produces “Penguin Rundown,” a program on YouTube that focuses on YSU sports.
“I think it will be great for students as well as for ‘Penguin Rundown,’” he said.
Falcon Transport operates in 38 states with nearly 1,500 employees and 900 trucks. Comprehensive Logistics is a materials manager for the Lordstown Assembly Plant and handles about 80 percent of Cruze parts.