The U will continue to have a hand in the Olympic Village that used to house more than 2,000 students.
Representatives of the U and higher education will help welcome athletes to their temporary homes during Games-time.
The Salt Lake Organizing Committee will house the 3,500 athletes and officials in the U’s Heritage Commons. The U will once again take over the residential halls in April. While the athletes reside in the halls, a prominent community leader will act as their honorary leader.
SLOC announced Tuesday that Spencer Eccles, chairman of the International Region of Wells Fargo and a major U donor, will serve as mayor of the village during the entirety of the Olympics and Paralympics.
In this capacity, he will welcome each international delegation, take dignitaries on tours of the village and help motivate the SLOC staff.
“I am very thrilled to serve as mayor during the Olympic and Paralympics,” Eccles said. “I am also pleased to show the athletes the world-class facilities of the village.”
To help Eccles in his responsibilities, SLOC also named 41 “mayors of the day.”
“Perhaps this is the most visible recognition of the people in our community that will represent us to the world,” SLOC President Mitt Romney said.
This list of community leaders includes the names of some people associated with the U.
Jesse Soriano, coordinator for the health sciences ethnic minority program, will preside over the village for one day.
“I am tremendously proud to be here as a member of the Hispanic community and as a member of the U. It is a historic event, and I am glad to be a part of it,” he said.
SLOC also named Commissioner of Higher Education Cecelia Foxley and state Board of Regents member Pamela Atkinson to the honorary post.
The U has two representatives named as Paralympic Village mayors, Ted Wilson and Ron Coleman
Wilson is a former Salt Lake City mayor and the current director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics.
Coleman is a history professor and a former associate vice president for diversity.
The “mayors of the day” will assist Eccles in showing dignitaries the village and may need to work a 12-hour shift to fulfill their responsibilities.