Two years after its acquisition, the 推荐杏吧原创 at Lake Tahoe campus continues significant strides to strengthen its role as a vibrant pillar of the University and an engaged educational partner in the Tahoe community.
From creation of the world-class Tahoe Institute for Global Sustainability to specialized short-term classes on subjects ranging from geology to creative writing, the Lake Tahoe campus hosts a growing number of initiatives that support its focus on sustainability and environmental stewardship.
“We are excited about the substantial progress that we have made in our transition,” said Jeff Thompson, executive vice president and provost of the University. “We are successfully using this beautiful campus in many ways that benefit students, the local community and the global environment.”
The 18-acre Lake Tahoe Wayne L. Prim campus in Incline Village was acquired by the University on July 1, 2022. The campus, previously the home of Sierra Nevada University, is nestled in pines less than a mile from the shore of Lake Tahoe.
Even as the final 32 students who were attending Sierra Nevada University at the time of the acquisition work toward completion of their degrees, the classrooms, dormitories, laboratories and other facilities on the campus find new life as the home of innovative new learning programs.
For example, two 16-week evening courses offered by the University this fall filled quickly — all 20 seats in one were filled within four minutes, and the other was filled within 20 minutes — and an expanded evening schedule is planned for spring 2025.
Eight undergraduates from the University’s main campus are participating this fall in the “Semester at Tahoe” initiative, living in dorms at the Lake Tahoe campus. Six of those students are pursuing certification as experts in sustainability.
The University also offered nine one-credit weekend courses in subjects ranging from drone photography to the life cycle of kokanee salmon at the campus this fall. The classes filled quickly and campus officials hope to accommodate 200 students in spring 2025.
Summer art workshops at the Holman Arts & Media Center on campus drew 120 students for week-long sessions this summer, and expanded offerings are planned for 2025 that include ceramics with acclaimed artist Giselle Hicks and plein air painting with Phyllis Trowbridge. Low-residency graduate programs offered through the College of Liberal Arts this fall attracted 16 students in interdisciplinary arts and 28 in creative writing.
Maintaining the campus and the region’s focus on sustainability and environmental stewardship is also a priority of the Lake Tahoe campus. Under development, the University will conduct world-class research, engage communities in environmental issues and build capacity to address challenges such as water quality, biodiversity, atmospheric changes and forest health.
Earlier this year, the University received federal funding to purchase a living laboratory aboard a research vessel in Lake Tahoe. Along with research capabilities, the laboratory will advance science education across the region.
Those initiatives are drawing international attention. The Lake Tahoe campus has hosted visiting leaders from Brazil, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand during three U.S. Department of State leadership programs on climate and sustainability. The programs have been among multiple seminars and workshops on subjects such as wildfire, climate change and invasive species at the campus.
Leaders of the arts, meanwhile, are strengthening their already strong presence at the Lake Tahoe campus.
It’s home to the . Since its founding in 2012, the four-week summer music festival has brought top musicians to the campus for educational programs as well as orchestra, chamber music and jazz concerts.
In the visual arts, world-renowned photographer and foundation professor of art Peter Goin, is creating a dynamic visual research library housed in the Prim Library and other spaces on the Lake Tahoe campus. Goin has been photographing distinctive places around Tahoe for decades. The interative media space will include photographs, historical materials and installations.
From local to global
The campus also plays an expanding role in strengthening the Lake Tahoe community.
will begin reporting live from a new recording studio at Prim Library in spring 2025, enabling more local news and storytelling from the Incline Village area and around Lake Tahoe.
“We hope to dedicate a full-time reporter at North Lake Tahoe within the year,” said Gi Yun, dean of the University’s Reynolds School of Journalism. “Incline can be seen as a news desert, and we want to fill that void. The new studio space also will be available to Reynolds School students, further enhancing our commitment to the Lake Tahoe region.”
More than 60 organizations, meanwhile, relied on facilities of the Lake Tahoe campus for conferences and events this summer, and more than 30 of those groups stayed overnight on campus. Among the events was the high-profile of the Lake Tahoe Summit, which has been hosted by the campus for the past three years.
“Lake Tahoe is one of the world’s most precious places, and the 推荐杏吧原创 at Lake Tahoe is strongly committed to protection and enhancement of its environmental, cultural and community assets,” Thompson said. “We are delivering on our promise.”
