On Friday, Cal Poly announced the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Student Success Center, a transformational new facility aimed at expanding the career and personal development opportunities available to students. 

Named after philanthropists and entrepreneurs Lynda and Stewart Resnick, co-founders of The Wonderful Company, the center honors their $20 million lead gift supporting the facility and their long-standing commitment for quality education. 

The Resnicks’ philanthropy includes historic gifts to local institutions, including Caltech, UC Davis, and Fresno State, among others. They’ve focused transformational efforts in California’s Central Valley, where they support paradigm-changing work in education, community engagement, and health and wellness. 

The 25,000 square-foot Lynda and Stewart Resnick Student Success Center will feature a professional development center for career services, programs that support Cal Poly’s growing numbers of first-generation students, and student diversity and belonging cultural centers. 

“We have worked closely with Cal Poly for over 20 years through our Wonderful Scholars program and know it to be a tremendous educational environment that we are proud to continue to support,” said Lynda and Stewart Resnick. “This program will ensure first-generation students have access to the resources, collaboration and learning tools to help empower them to build successful lives and careers and make meaningful contributions to the world.” 

The Lynda and Stewart Resnick Student Success Center will provide space for more student advisors, along with three times the office, counselor and professional recruiting space for Career Services, and Student Diversity and Belonging cultural centers. 

“The new Lynda and Stewart Resnick Student Success Center will provide critical support for our first-generation students and an increased emphasis on career programming for all students,” said Cal Poly President Jeffrey D. Armstrong. “By engaging students early and often, the center will instill a culture of career readiness — helping to further elevate the value of a Cal Poly degree.” 

The Resnicks are already stalwart supporters of student success at Cal Poly through their College Success Scholar Program. Created and funded by the Resnicks, this flagship program currently provides scholarships up to $30,000 for 82 Cal Poly students from the Central Valley and helps them prepare for, pay for, and persist through college. 

“Student success happens when universities align professional purpose with personal identity,” said Keith Humphrey, Cal Poly’s vice president for student affairs. “That is exactly the conditions Cal Poly is creating within the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Student Success Center. I’m excited for our students to amplify their success when we open the doors to this transformational new facility in the core of campus.”