For Immediate Release September 30, 2005

For More Information Contact: Diane Brown, 317-274-7711 habrown@iupui.edu

Campus Center Groundbreaking Heralds New Day for IUPUI Campus Life

President Herbert, Chancellor Bantz, Dean Whitney, and IU Trustee Jeffery Cohen broke ground at the Campus Center Groundbreaking Ceremony on September 30.

INDIANAPOLIS - About 300 IUPUI administrators, faculty, staff, students and community guests gathered today (Sept. 30) for a ceremonial groundbreaking for the $50 million IUPUI Campus Center.

The 45-minute ceremony took place on a plaza across the street from where the 173,000-square foot, limestone and glass Campus Center will be constructed on the southwest corner of University Boulevard and Michigan Street.

Speakers for the event included IU president Adam Herbert, IUPUI Chancellor Charles R. Bantz and IUPUI Vice Chancellor for Student Life and Diversity Karen M. Whitney.

The Campus Center will serve as a focal point for students to engage in "life and learning," said Chancellor Bantz, citing the success of other campus gathering spots such as Democracy Plaza, created during the last presidential election as an outdoor arena for student and faculty exchanges.

"A year and a half later people are still writing ideas and responding and using ( Democracy Plaza ) to meet because they need a place to learn and live together," Bantz said. "So that is what this ( Campus Center ) building represents, it is the next stage of that. Our students will fill it and make it live and make it part of their life. So this truly is a next step in the life of this campus."

"But most importantly it creates the opportunity for learning and life for all of us," the chancellor said. "The students are center. The faculty are important. Our staff will use it, and yes . those of you from the community who want to come to a lecture, you will fill it and make it live. As beautiful a design as it is, what will make it really live are the people."

Vice Chancellor Whitney, quoting from Richard Light's book, "Making the Most of College," said, "Light mentions the important of 'powerful connections' and connecting what students learn in class to what they learn out of class. The Campus Center will be a monumental facilitator for these connections. The Campus Center, second I hope only to the library, will be the place students will go to before, between, or after class."

Construction of the new building is expected to take 30 months, with completion in 2007.

Features of the Campus Center's lower level and four stories include a 250-seat theater and a 600-seat dining area. The facility will also provide gathering spaces and lounges for students, faculty and staff, along with space for planned meeting events. It will house offices for admissions, the bursar, financial aid, and other student support and leadership functions.

Under the direction of music Professor Richard Walker, the IUPUI MelodyWave Bell Ensemble, a faculty/student group of musicians, performed "Festival Carillon" as dedicatory music during the groundbreaking. With a cue from Walker, the audience joined in, ringing red "cow" bells engraved with the words " IUPUI Campus Center."

"As you know there will be a (179-foot bell) tower punctuating the Campus Center and making it an instant downtown and campus icon," Whitney said. "The musical selections today pay honor to these future bells... you will be asked to ring your bell symbolizing that this building is a space for all."

Officials estimate that approximately 10,000 to 12,000 individuals will utilize the Campus Center on a daily basis. IUPUI currently enrolls about 28,000 students.

A $10-million state appropriation will pay for about 20 percent of the project; student activities fee revenue will fund approximately 39 percent; and revenue from the campus bookstore, copy services, food service and other auxiliary retail enterprises will cover the remaining 41 percent.

Naming rights are also available for private donations toward costs associated with building the center.

Other speakers for the groundbreaking were Jennifer M. Delaney, Undergraduate Student Government president; Rebecca E. Porter, executive director of enrollment services and associate vice chancellor for student services; and Catherine A. Crichlow, IUPUI alumna and assistant director of development from the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology at IUPUI.

IU trustees, along with representatives from the building's general contractor, Hunt Construction Group, and architects SmithGroup, Inc. of Washington, D.C., and Ratio Architects of Indianapolis, also attended the event.

Additional details on the Campus center can be viewed online at http://www.life.iupui.edu/campcntr.

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