by Eva Dameron
Daily Lobo
Business students have a new headquarters to call home.
"We're overjoyed to have the place up and running," said Chuck Crespy, dean of Anderson Schools of Management. "Our goal was to have Anderson be less like a Wendy's drive-thru and more like a day at the office. We didn't have a home for our students."
Crespy spoke at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday for the Anderson Student Event Center and Financial Services Center.
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The project cost $1.6 million.
About 60 alumni, donors, Anderson faculty and students gathered for the
ceremony.
The center has high ceilings, a rounded wall of colorful glass windows and chairs that flip into tables.
There is also a video wall on the second story that holds 10 screens displaying stock market numbers for students managing portfolios.
Students will eventually be able to learn from tutors on the screens by videoconference during tutoring sessions.
Crespy said he wants students to spend a larger portion of their day in the building, where they have access to the same tools as Wall Street professionals.
"It's been a long time in the making and took about eight months to construct,"
he said.
"It will really be home to the Anderson student population. It'll create a greater sense of community."
Gregory Hartman, president of the company that designed the center, called the addition a beacon for students.
He said the lime green, purple and orange color scheme is a tool to make Anderson more exciting.
"People always react positively to bright, fun colors," he said. "Student investment and business management - they're kind of boring, dry ideas to most students. We made it more of an art piece, connecting the business world with the creative
art world."
Richard Deutch, who helped on the design project with Hartman, said school administrators were impressed with the design proposal.
"They're using it to really showcase the Anderson," Deutch said. "This was like a forgotten program, and this is an opportunity for them to be expressive and bold."
Management graduate student
Marisa Magallanez said the building brings energy to what used to be the most boring part of campus.
Marketing student Carl Vidal said he liked the new building.
"I like all the colored windows," he said. "It makes it look cool. And they're putting the finance class in there - that'll give all the students some hands-on experience."
