A Season to Amplify

Jen Wright, Marketing & Communications 

Thanks to his adaptability, business acumen, and talent for building relationships, Steve Starks BIS ’03 is widely respected as a leader in Utah and beyond.

And his name recognition is sure to keep rising. The Weber State graduate and former student body president was president of the Utah Jazz and Larry H. Miller Sports & Entertainment before advancing to his current role as CEO of the Larry H. Miller Company. He leads Big League Utah, the effort to bring an MLB expansion team to Salt Lake City. In early 2025, Starks was named vice chair of the organizing committee for the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games — serving alongside committee CEO and vice chair Brad Wilson BS ’93.

Most importantly for the WSU community, Starks is chair of the steering committee for Amplify Weber State: The Campaign for Weber State University. The comprehensive fundraising campaign aims to raise $200 million over the next few years to support student access and success, workforce preparedness, teaching excellence, and other initiatives across the university.

“Weber State really invested in me as a student, and I have always felt this obligation to pay back the institution and to have a positive impact on the place I love that helped shape my life,” Starks said about his decision to chair the committee. “This was worth making time for.”

Brad Mortensen, WSU president when the committee was formed, was thrilled to see Starks in this leadership role. “Steve never flinches when it comes to advocating for Weber State,” he said. “He’s been in so many situations where he’s had the chance to elevate the university’s profile and visibility at the state level or beyond, and he always stands up as a proud Wildcat.”

Former president Ann Millner agreed. Now a fellow member of the steering committee, she has known Starks since he was a student and has worked with him many times over the decades since.

“Time and time again, Steve has demonstrated his ability to build relationships with people — to come into situations, see what needs to be done, and then be able to align people toward a common goal and get the team working together to make it happen,” she said. “He’s a part of the next generation that will have an impact and imprint on Weber State in the future.”

College Years

Starks grew up in Huntsville, Utah, and graduated from Weber High School. He spent a year at Weber State before serving a mission in Mississippi. To return to school, he needed to pay his way with several jobs: driving a bread truck, hanging siding, working on a golf course — an experience similar to that of many WSU students today.

As a sophomore, he was elected student body president as a write-in candidate, which included a scholarship. After that, he completed several paid internships. “Although I probably didn’t make as much money as I could have if I had worked ... I thought, if I deferred making more money until later, and I traded that for experience, it would eventually lead to a better job,” he said.

When talking with students now, Starks refers to seasons of life — and college is the season to “focus on getting an education and getting experiences.”

“As I look back at Weber State, the thing that’s very evident is that who I entered as and who I left as were dramatically different people,” he said. “I didn’t even know enough to know what I wanted to do when I came in as a freshman. And by the time I left, because of Weber State’s emphasis on being a teaching university, because you can get involved in extracurriculars, because of the culture on campus, I was able to have experiences that dramatically changed my trajectory.”

Professional Career

After graduating with a degree in integrated studies and completing an internship in Washington, D.C., on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Starks spent several years working in Utah politics. It was a somewhat ironic move, because his internship had convinced him he’d rather go into business than law school. But when he returned to Utah, he met and was impressed with then-candidate for governor Nolan Karras BS ’70.

He volunteered for the Karras campaign and was asked to become campaign manager. “Taking that role was very situational, because I thought so highly of Nolan,” Starks said. After that, he managed a campaign for Rob Bishop, former U.S. representative. But it wasn’t what he wanted to do as a career.

“Then John Huntsman called and asked if I would help manage his transition team, because he had been elected governor. That role was far less political, more focused on policy, how to run organizations effectively, and how to set up a new administration. At the time I was 25, 26 years old,” Starks said. “I developed a lot of relationships and learned a lot about the way that not only state government works, but also how world-class organizations work, because we brought in consultants from some of the top firms of the country to help us. Watching how they approached problems and thought about how to run effective and efficient organizations was a great education.”

At that point, Starks decided he should go to business school. He never got there. He got as far as asking Larry H. Miller for a letter of recommendation while they were in an elevator together. That request led to lunch, and “that ultimately led to him asking if I’d come to work for the Miller Company,” Starks said.

In the business world, this story was shortened to a legend that Starks met Miller on an elevator and emerged with a job offer. The reality wasn’t that dramatic, but it was unusual.

“He saw, I think, potential — maybe a very raw product, but somebody who had potential to become more refined and develop some executive abilities,” Starks said.

Throughout his career, Starks saw Miller bring talented people into the company without a defined role, on the belief that the right position would emerge for them. “I fell into that category,” Starks said. “That was 19 years ago.”

It’s a lesson Starks has carried with him as he’s risen to lead the organization. “Now that I’m the CEO, I can see that effective leaders are really effective recruiters of talent, and they develop talent,” he said. “I’m grateful Larry saw something in me, and I try to model that. Let’s hire really bright people and make sure that we give them a career path where they can both grow individually and make a really positive impact on the company.”

Looking Ahead

Starks balances many roles and responsibilities: family, career, church, and a variety of civic and business leadership and advisory positions.

“I believe balance is really a function of prioritization,” he said. “Different things have to be prioritized at different times. The older I’m getting, the more I’m learning to say no. A really important aspect of leadership is to know when to say no to certain things, to focus and simplify. I’m very much in that season of life right now. I am trying to focus on the essential things.”

For the next several years, those essentials include Olympic planning and WSU’s Amplify campaign. Starks is excited for both.

“With the Olympics, we have an opportunity to take a very prepared state in terms of readiness to host, and ensure that the games in 2034 leave a legacy and have a great impact for the citizens of Utah,” he said. “We can leave the world a little bit better for having been in Utah, and we can leave the citizens of Utah a little bit better for having welcomed the world.”

As for Amplify, Starks can already envision the impact of a successful campaign. “This campaign is special in that it’s focused on students and access and education — not buildings. When we hit our goal of $200 million dollars, the return will be many multiples of that in the effect it has on students’ lives and in furthering the mission of Weber State University.”

His goal as a campaign leader is “to tell the Weber State story effectively, so people can understand what makes this university so special and why it’s essential to northern Utah — to the students and communities that it serves, and what it does for our workforce in the region.”

Starks hopes recent graduates get involved, even with small donations. “It’s a way of giving back,” he said. “It will be an example to their own kids and something they’ll never regret doing.”

A true believer in the value of education, Starks can picture himself teaching at WSU someday. “The value of education is timeless, no matter the circumstances we find ourselves in. I believe that education at an institution like Weber State is about what we learn in the classroom; it’s about the character we develop by going through the process; and it’s about the relationships that we make. Those will help us not only find better careers, they ultimately will help us have more meaningful lives.”

Amplify Weber State: Behind the Scenes

As Weber State launches its largest fundraising campaign in history, Wildcat brings you details about Amplify Weber State: The Campaign for Weber State University, and what it is intended to accomplish.

What is Amplify Weber State?

Amplify Weber State is a comprehensive, multi-year fundraising campaign for the university. While WSU’s annual operating expenses — personnel, facilities, academic programs, student services, and administration — are primarily covered by state funding and tuition, private donations directly transform our university and allow us to provide a better student experience.

Amplify is focused on engaging the Weber State community and encouraging philanthropy to improve student success.

Why “Amplify”?

We’re proud of Weber State and everything we do for our students, our community, and our region. The point of this campaign is to take what we already do well and build on that — boost our efforts, increase our impact, and amplify our success.

What is the money used for?

A wide range of scholarships, programs, equipment upgrades, facility improvements, and much more. In recent years, private gifts have helped fund initiatives like:

• The Miller Advanced Research & Solutions (MARS) Center near Hill Air Force Base, where students and faculty research and apply innovative solutions to real-world problems in the realm of national defense.
• The Ogden Foster Scholarship Program, supporting students who have aged out of foster care and want to attend Weber State.
• The Wildcat MicroFund, which offers cash grants, invaluable advice, and networking opportunities to WSU students and local entrepreneurs.

To help position WSU for success in the coming decade, we’ve identified high-priority programs that will make a tremendous impact on student opportunities and experiences. These include:

• Expanding student scholarships.
• Meeting workforce needs and providing immersive learning experiences.
• Growing learning communities to increase student retention.
• Championing teaching excellence with faculty support.

The campaign goal is $200 million, but we’re already over $125 million. How?

Over the past several years, WSU’s development team has been working with donors who champion the university’s vision. We start each campaign with a “quiet phase,” when we share our vision — “Imagine Weber State if we had …” — to secure leadership support and leading gifts. By the time we announce the campaign, the progress we’ve already made shows our momentum, making it more exciting for people to get involved. And every donation helps us achieve our ultimate goal to Amplify Weber State!

How can you learn more or get involved?

Visit weber.edu/amplify-weber-state, where you can learn about WSU’s goals, see our fundraising progress, or make a gift.

Taking the Campaign Live!

Weber State transformed the Allred Theater into a late-night television show studio for Amplify Live, a special event on Jan. 9, 2026, to launch the public phase of fundraising effort Amplify Weber State: The Campaign for Weber State University.

Hosted by alum Morgan Saxton BS ’13, host of FOX 13’s The PLACE, the kickoff event featured high-energy musical performances, student interviews, a faculty award presentation, and the unveiling of WSU’s goal to raise $200 million.

Interim President Leslie Durham, Campaign Steering Committee Chair Steve Starks BIS ’03, and Vice President of University Advancement Betsy Mennell announced that the campaign had already raised $125,574,910 during its quiet phase, which began in 2020.

Before the show, honored guests gathered in the Val A. Browning Center lobby, dressed to “amplify their purple pride,” to meet students from a variety of academic programs sharing research and projects made possible through philanthropy.

The event concluded with a vibrant performance of the WSU fight song, with the audience enthusiastically joining in to welcome a bold new chapter for the university.

“What I love most about this campaign is that it’s about students and access and education. I know without a doubt that what the community puts into Amplify Weber State will be returned exponentially in benefits for our students, our region, our state, and beyond,” Starks said.