Hope Anstett

Longtime UNLV supporter and one of its greatest fans, Hope Anstett and her late husband, Joe, were founding members of the Runnin’ Rebel Basketball Club and the Founder’s Circle for Black Mountain Institute. Hope attended Fifth Street Grammar School and Las Vegas High School. The couple met at the University of Oregon and married the day after graduation. Joe reported for active duty in the U.S. Army, leaving six months later for Korea, serving as a tank commander. After his return, they made Las Vegas their home.

Hope and Joe shared a passion for education and the belief that education is a stepping stone to success. Together, they found it especially important to encourage student-athletes to achieve not only in their sport, but also academically. The first Anstett Academic Center is located in the Mendenhall Center basketball practice facility, which her generous gifts helped to make possible. Hope also made a substantial commitment to the Fertitta Football Complex, which created a second Anstett Academic Center. Both centers display her inspiring quote, “Education is a stepping stone to success.”

Hope further extends her generosity through the Hope Anstett Fund, which supported a founding scholarship in the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV. Said Hope: “It’s the right thing to do, particularly given the need for doctors in our community.”