A lifetime of service to the USF community

To Art McDonald, life was about serving others. In fact, you might even say that serving others was his life, which makes it fitting that the new McDonald Center—now the heart of campus—is named in his honor.

McDonald was a Californian born and bred, who never experienced cold weather until he made his way north and east to attend college at Sioux Falls. In a sense, he never left.

It was at USF, as a student, that McDonald felt called to serve. Unfortunately, he was a hemophiliac, which prevented him from being a world missionary. But the disease didn't control his life, and it didn't stop McDonald from serving the University of Sioux Falls and its community of students.

"He was never able to be a missionary," says daughter Deb Elrich, "but he always had a passion for helping others and enriching their lives and helping students learn that ‘it's not all about me.'"

McDonald, a 1965 USF graduate, was a successful businessman—he established the first for-profit federal halfway house in the U.S.—and a university Trustee for the last 10 years of his life, 1991‚Äì2001. In both roles he helped USF students find their own paths to personal success.

"The McDonald Center will be such an asset," says Elrich, whose oldest daughter, Danae, will start at USF in the fall of 2008. "Having so many services and facilities under one roof brings together so many students and gives them the opportunity to meet one another and build relationships.

"Part of the university's challenge to its students, and to its faculty and staff, is to do something outside of their comfort zone—something that will help others.

"Through its students, USF wants to leave footprints around the world," Elrich says. "My dad believed in that, in making a difference."