Last Friday, the recently finished Bartels Student Activity Center (formerly the Psychology Building) had its ribbon cutting ceremony. First, if you want to see a few pictures of the ceremony, check out the second page right below “USGA President’s Corner!” Moving on, it was a nice brief little shindig to let the Bartels family know that their generosity is greatly appreciated by the entire campus and to present the finished project to them, as well as to all faculty, staff, and students who had yet to make it over to the new building.
The ceremony consisted of remarks by President Kaplan, Samuel S. Bergami Jr. (Chairman of the Board of Governors), Philip H. Bartels (Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors), John M. Picard (the Mayor of West Haven), Sandra Vlock (President of Arbonies King Vlock, the master planners and architects of the project), and Scott Kazar (USGA President). Following this, the ribbon was cut, and all the attendees flooded into the building to check it out.
It was great to see the number of people who turned out to see the building, especially students; however, despite the fact that students have been using the area for some time now, I wish that even more had show up to show their appreciation. The Bartels family has been incredibly generous and continues to show their support of UNH, and it is absolutely the least we, as students, can do to show our appreciation by showing up to building dedications to express our gratitude.
On a slightly different note, when I first saw the trellis erected on the stage/patio of BSAC, I was concerned that the cables put in around it would deter students from sitting at the tables there, but boy was I wrong! On the first really nice day since the tables were added, there were students sitting all over just hanging out enjoying the weather while overlooking the Bixler-Botwinik quad. Additionally, the number of students using the facilities inside the building, whether it’s the Career Development Center, the programming/work/meeting space, or the high tech conference room, has increased recently. I hope to see this number get even higher in the next few weeks as school comes to a close, since we really do have a great new resource to utilize now.
As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, the end of the semester is almost here! There are only two more issues of The Charger Bulletin after this one, and the last day of classes is May 4; can you believe it? I know it can be hard to keep up with end of semester work, but stick it out for a little over three weeks more, and you’ll be done!
