What a day!

Saturday, August 30, 2008

A new group of Oles arrived on campus today and it was one of the most beautiful move in days of my 20 years on the hill. It was just a great day, happy kids, happy parents, happy faculty and staff, and especially - admissions counselors!

More people are happy though. The entire planning, design, and construction team for Regents Hall breathed a great sigh of relief when our third major milestone was completed on Friday - the Certificate of Occupancy. This means the building can be used for its intended purpose. It doesn't really mean it's done. There's a bunch of finishing to do, but classes can begin!

Landscape is well underway and walks are complete to the main entry of Regents. There's a continuous new walk that hooks up with existing walks near Old Main. With these pieces in place, pedestrians can get where they need to be even while the remaining flat concrete work goes on.

This new quad - Old Main on the east end, Steensland and Holland on the north side, and Regents Hall on the south, has beautiful flow into the main central campus green. It's really hard to remember what this felt like when it was unorganized parking and roadway - but I do remember it didn't feel good. It just feels great now!

Now - all we have to do is get it really truly done, landscape and all, in time for Homecoming and Family Weekend (and Regents Hall Dedication).