Page 25 - September 2006 • Southern California Gaming Guide

September 2006 Tribes in the News (Continued)
San Diego State University Names Chairman of
ISycuan Institute on Tribal Gaming
n late August, San Diego State University (SDSU) “A particularly acute and vitally important component named veteran casino entertainment executive of this challenge will be to attract students of Native Randolph Baker the rst chair of SDSU’s Sycuan American descent into the degree program,” Baker said.
Baker credited the Sycuan Tribe for having the foresight to fund the institute, which he said will have the ability to bene t Native American groups everywhere.
“As we have demonstrated through a number of initiatives in recent years, education is of paramount interest to the Sycuan, and because of the importance of Native American gaming as an economic development tool for the indigenous peoples of the United States, we are truly delighted to be the catalyst behind the Sycuan Institute on Tribal Gaming,” said Nubia Ruiz, Director of Education for and a member of the Tribal Council of the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation.
Baker said the institute will begin work shortly on an oral history project for tribal gaming across the United States, focusing on the major leading roles played by the Seminole, Pequot, Cabazon and other Native American nations. Baker added he would like the institute to be responsible for creating the rst “Tribal Gaming 101” textbook for academic and general use.
e Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation operates Sycuan Resort & Casino in El Cajon, CA. More than 200 casinos are located on Native American reservations throughout the U.S., where permitted by state and federal law, including nine in San Diego County — the greatest concentration in the United States.
Institute on Tribal Gaming, the country’s rst research institute and academic curriculum exclusively focused on tribal gaming.
Baker has been involved in the expansion of the tribal gaming industry from its start. Currently,
he serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Isle
of Capri Casinos, Inc., one of the nation’s largest casino entertainment companies.
“I look forward to creating a
program that will set the national
standard for excellence in studying
tribal gaming issues, and I am con dent
that we can achieve that objective,” said Baker, who o cially began his duties last week.
Among the challenges, according to Baker, will be combining the academic requirements with the gaming- management needs of Native American nations to ensure their economic development and continued cultural, social and political identity.
Baker has served as Harrah’s Visiting Professor of Gaming Studies at the University of Nevada,
Reno, and as government relations o cer for what is now Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. While with Harrah’s, Baker was part of a team that researched Indian gaming during the explosion of tribal and commercial gaming in the late 1980s and early
1990s.
e Sycuan Institute on Tribal
Gaming was established a year ago with a $5.5 million donation from the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation. e institute’s goals are to provide quality analysis of trends and issues a ecting the industry, to help meet the tribal gaming industry’s increasing needs for highly trained professionals, and to serve as a point of engagement between gaming tribes and the wider community. e gift included
funds for the endowed chair.
September 2006
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
Page 25
Tribes in the News (Continued)