On November 5, 1987, SVSC became Saginaw Valley State University. Dr. Jack Ryder resigned as president in 1989 and Eric R. Gilbertson succeeded him. An off-campus location was opened in Cass City in 1991. In 2000, George W. Bush visited the Ryder Center days before the election where he would be elected President of the United States. The annual Battle of the Valleys, a fundraising competition against rival Grand Valley State University, was established in 2003. In 2009, SVSU alumnus Tony Ceccacci was the lead flight director for STS-125, a mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, and an SVSU pennant was sent to space on board the Space Shuttle Atlantis. The pennant is currently on display in Pioneer Hall. On June 18, 2013, President Gilbertson announced his intention to retire when the university's board of control finds his replacement.