Tell us about Jack 1st. Excuse me. Jack. Jack Jack 1st. I mean I'm trying
to blank. It's funny because I never actually knew Jack's first name.
Everybody called him Dallas Dallas. Oh, Dallas. Yeah, now we're talking,
I know a lot about Dallas. How would I describe Jack first? I've never
seen Jack without caffeine. I met Jack when I was about 18. I don't really
know if he ever sleeps. I thought Jack was a good guy, mainly because he
was a fellow texas. The classic Jack first issue pull over. I don't even
think Mark Zuckerberg was born yet before Jack was where it was warm and
it was genuine. So I knew we were dealing with the guy who was very real.
He was not pretentious at all. He never tried to impress anybody except
with his intelligence, wit and sense of humor. He could run circles around
people. We had the first fundraiser, uh, that we had at Paradise Valley
Country Club and I was panicked because we weren't gonna be able to get
him in there with jeans and hoodie on. But we worked it out. Question I
have is we're filming, this is really have it on tonight, Jack. I said, do
you know that you're eccentric? And Jack just went ballistic and the whole
room was dumbfounded. They were shocked on the phone with the mouth and
I'm not eccentric. How dare you come? And then finally he blew himself out
and he said, what is eccentric? And I said, okay, so I got a dictionary by
reading the definition and he admitted it. I said jacket. if you weren't
so wealthy, you just be weird like the rest of us.
What he's seeking to do here is no less than transform our physical space
into a gathering space that will unify all sun devils, whether you
graduated, uh, 60 years ago or whether you'll graduate 60 years from now.
What he means by that is once the reinvention of this state and once this
venue to belong to all of the issue, all of the community For purposes way
beyond just seven or 8 football games a year. Jack is part of a new breed
of philanthropist that are really going to be important for Arizona State
University As we move forward. He wants to be in the hunt, He wants to be
in the race. He wants to be part of what we're doing. His involvement has
been the difference in the success and failure of this project. Jack had a
completely different vision of it. That was truly transformative for ISU.
He wants to impact the student athletes. He wants to impact people. It's
not just about building a stadium. We call him the general manager, Our
players really connect with him. He really has a true interest in them,
not just from winning football games. We don't need a football stadium.
We're the largest university in the country. What we need is we need a
student union on steroids. 365 is a vision that basically says that if
you're not in your classroom and you're not in your dorm, you're at 3 65
you're at sun devil place, whatever we decide to name. And it is a student
union on steroids. It's a s you total access all the time in the most
creative digital format and content. It's a transformation project. And it
was that that I was prepared to roll up my face to make an investment when
you have the Jack first and Bill Kintz and steve butterfield's and joe
cause grows and the leo abuses and the tom gardeners and craig Weatherup.
Uh and oh by the way, family members and spouses who support all of that
giving, I think what gives Jack and Deborah his lovely wife Joy and giving
back is that they can help lead their colleagues and their friends in this
kind of effort butter, He said, the only thing that restricts us is how
big we dream and I believe that Jack and I'm total follower, the dream
that you have here Arizona state and I'm proud to be a partner withyou