Schooley Family Commits $1 Million To Long Beach State
1/26/2016 12:00:00 AM | BAF
Long Beach, Calif. - Longtime supporters of Long Beach State Vern and Trisha Schooley have committed to a planned gift of $1 million to support the department of athletics.
The $1 million planned gift from the Schooleys will assist with their goal of the continued development of student-athletes at Long Beach State, and will be invested in endowed program scholarships and operations support for the men's basketball and women's tennis programs at the Beach.
"We believe that athletics provide a great opportunity for youth development and to learn lifetime lessons of dedication, discipline and teamwork," said Vern Schooley. "Over the years Long Beach State has given numerous students training and opportunities to grow in those areas they could never have had from any other source. It is our privilege to support the future of Long Beach State athletics and its promising basketball and tennis programs."
"Vern and Trisha Schooley are an important part of the Beach Family. Vern is a member of our Beach Athletics Board of Directors and has been very helpful in promoting our program and helping recruit other alumni and friends to get involved," Athletic Director Vic Cegles said.
Vern's interest in athletics goes back to his roots in Michigan when he was awarded a football scholarship to Ferris State in Big Rapids, Michigan. After his playing career, he moved on to graduate from Michigan State with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Vern then worked as a design engineer, first for Boeing Aircraft in Seattle and then at General Dynamics in San Diego. While working on the first unmanned moonshot project, he attended night law school at the University of San Diego. He then took advantage of his engineering training to qualify as a patent attorney, trying patent and trademark cases for the next 50 years in the various federal courts throughout the nation. Vern continues as a partner with Fulwider Patton LLP.
Vern became interested in Long Beach State athletics during the Jerry Tarkanian years as a booster for both the football and basketball programs and eventually for the tennis program. He enjoyed traveling with the basketball teams on road trips during the playoffs as well as with the football teams coached by Wayne Howard.
His passion for over a quarter of a century has been to improve the quality of trial court advocacy, civility and ethics in the practice of law. He has for many years occupied leadership roles in various legal associations and has been instrumental in setting up a number of American Inns of Court throughout the western United States, where local judges and attorneys get together in groups of less than 100 each month to break bread to discuss and demonstrate the professional and ethical practice of law and provide mentorship to newer attorneys.
Vern has been president of the Long Beach Bar Association, founding president of the Long Beach Ball/Hunt American Inn of Court and founding president of the Los Angeles Judge Paul R. Michel Intellectual Property American Inn of Court. He has been selected Long Beach Lawyer of the Year.
Vern is most proud of a prestigious award, the 2014 A. Sherman Christiansen Award, presented at a formal function held at the U.S. Supreme Court, hosted by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg where he had the opportunity to give an acceptance speech to some 300 leading attorneys, judges, justices and Attorney Generals from across the U.S.
Vern is married to an Australian Trish Schooley, has two sons Greg and Brett and daughter, Kelly. In his spare time he enjoys tennis, skiing and golf.
The support shown by the Schooleys adds to the recent success of the Beach Athletic Club, which experienced a 20 percent increase in membership during the 2014 calendar year. The Beach Athletic Club has received several major gifts including a $1 million commitments from Troy and Danyll Tulowitzki and Marilyn Bohl for The Campaign for Blair Field , a $250,000 gift toward the Athletic Performance Complex project from Bob Summers, a $100,000 gift from Evan Longoria, and an anonymous $100,000 gift.
Alumni, fans and friends who would like to contribute to the overall success of the Long Beach State Athletics and provide financial support to the efforts of student-athletes across all sports can contact Wayne Stickney, Senior Associate Athletic Director at (562) 985-5402. Fans and alumni who would like to join the Beach Athletic Club, which looks to increase its membership to 1,500 by 2017, are encouraged to contact Sara Cerulle at (562) 985-5910 for more information.
