Donald C. Moyer, man who shaped UNLV, dies at 88

Donald C. Moyer, UNLV's first president, died Monday morning from a burst aneurysm. He was 88.

Moyer presided over what was then Nevada Southern University from 1964 to 1969, but he became known to generations of students afterward when the student union was named after him in 1968.

"He was very proud of his time there, and he was just a really positive, energetic person," his grandson, Michael Watkins, said Thursday.

Moyer was instrumental in shaping the identity of the young commuter school. He either built or helped secure funding for the university's first dormitory, its first student union, the hundreds of acres on which the school now sits and the College of Hotel Administration.

He also paved the way for the school being renamed the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1969.

"I've always called him the Original Rebel, the guy who led the charge to break away from UNR," Watkins said.

But the improvements required constant battles with the Board of Regents, which was dominated by advocates for UNLV's in-state rival, the University of Nevada, Reno.

Moyer worked with students, who frequently protested Board of Regents meetings, to secure more funding for the university.

He recounted those days in an interview with the Review-Journal late last year.

"We played that case hard: 'The big dog Reno is trying to eat our funding all the time,'" Moyer said. "The students we had, they did unbelievable things. They really put themselves on the line."

After leaving the university, Moyer became president of the University of Alaska. In 1976, he moved back to Las Vegas and worked as a family and marriage counselor, according to his family.

But he remained involved with UNLV and often attended university ceremonies and functions.

"I found him to be an extraordinary individual," UNLV President David Ashley said. "He was there for the students. He really tried to change the character of the campus for the benefit of the students."

The Donald C. Moyer Student Union, known as "MSU" among students, was torn down in 2006 to make way for a new facility, which opened last year. The amphitheater behind the new student union will be dedicated to Moyer during a ceremony at the site April 23 at 3 p.m.

Services for Moyer will be held Wednesday at 11 a.m. at Central Christian Church, 1001 New Beginnings Drive, near U.S. Highway 95 and Russell Road. A viewing will be held Tuesday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Palm Mortuary, 7600 S. Eastern Ave., near Warm Springs Road.