On Friday, May 8, Goucher College will break ground on a new residence hall that will begin a complete re-envisioning of how students live and learn on campus. Goucher students, faculty, staff, alumnae/i, trustees, and other community members will gather on the lawn of Froelicher Hall across from the Decker Sports and Recreation Center at 4:30 p.m. for the groundbreaking ceremony.
Afterward, community members will continue to celebrate this progress—as well as the wide-reaching philanthropic support that is spurring it—with refreshments and entertainment. To sign up to attend, please click here.
The bold renovation and construction project that is being launched is projected to cost $54 million over 10 years. The first phase of work has been jumpstarted by a $20 million investment from Goucher’s Board of Trustees, but countless alumnae/i, faculty, staff, students, parents, and other friends of the college have also contributed generously in support of Goucher’s bright future. Learn more about community members’ unprecedented philanthropic participation here.
“We have seen tremendous excitement about the direction in which Goucher College is heading, not only from our trustees, but from every constituency of this community,” says Margaret-Ann Radford-Wedemeyer. “The enthusiasm driving this housing and dining project show the kind of steadfast backing this college engenders.”
The inaugural phase of the residential renovation project will be the construction of a first-year village at the center of campus. Located where Froelicher Hall stands now—close to the Decker Sports & Recreation Center and the heart of campus—the first-year village will include 475 beds in a traditional residence-hall setting. Once this residence hall is completed—anticipated for next fall—Froelicher will be closed, and students will occupy the brand-new housing.
During the second phase of the project, a large, central, community dining hall will be created at the Pearlstone Student Center. The new, centrally located dining center will offer a meal-time experience aimed at enhancing a sense of community on campus; it also will offer a range of choices: à la carte, all-you-can-eat, kosher, vegetarian, and vegan options.
The third phase of the renovation project will include razing Stimson Hall, a 53-year-old combination living and dining facility, and replacing it with an upper-division village featuring 425 new suites and apartments, where older students can choose to live with friends or in a single room. Located closer to the edge of campus, these units will offer residents access to amenities and community assistants, in a flexible environment aimed at preparing them for post-graduation independence.
“It’s an exciting time at Goucher,” says President Bowen. “We still need to develop our plan further and raise additional funds for this project, but we believe building living-learning communities is an integral part of our mission to redefine the liberal arts for the 21st century.”
For more information about this project, please check here regularly.