Whereas the Hulman Center was funded by donation and bond issues after an initial $2,500,000 gift from the philanthropist Tony Hulman, the patriarch of the Hulman family; Whereas construction started on the Hulman Center, initially named the Hulman Civic University Center, in Terre Haute, Indiana on December 14, 1971; Whereas the Hulman Center can hold up to 10,000 people; Whereas, on December 14, 1973, the facility opened and held its first game, a men's basketball game between the Indiana State Sycamores and the Purdue Boilermakers; Whereas the Hulman Center is home to the Indiana State Sycamores basketball teams; Whereas the Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball team's first season was in 1896, making it one of the oldest basketball teams in the NCAA, along with Bucknell University, the University of Minnesota, the University of Washington, and Yale University; Whereas the Hulman Center has served as the site of several NCAA championship events, including the 1974 Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament; Whereas the Hulman Center was the site of the 1975 NCAA Gymnastics National Championship; Whereas the Hulman Center was home to Indiana State men’s basketball team’s most memorable season, 1978–1979, when most of the games were standing-room-only; Whereas, during the 1978–1979 season, National Player of the Year Larry Bird led an undefeated team to its first-ever NCAA Division I Tournament, as well as the Associated Press and United Press International titles; Whereas the Hulman Center is the site of the 1979 Missouri Valley Conference men’s basketball tournament title game; Whereas the Indiana State Sycamores men’s basketball team was runner-up in the 1979 NCAA National Championship and was nationally recognized as the best team in the country, including by the Associated Press; Whereas, in its first 5 years, the Hulman Center hosted 95 concerts