A new high rise building could be added to UST’s landscape, President Richard L. Ludwick said.
Luwick met with the campus community on Thursday, Feb. 24, for a special question-and-answer forum where he said that there are future plans for a new high rise building on campus.
The forum, which was sponsored by ESO student leadership and hosted by the student body president Michaella Maniscal at Jones Auditorium, saw the president speak to an audience of approximately 50.
Ludwick said the master plan for the physical development of the university campus includes constructing a new tower where the JAAC outdoor center is currently located. The new building would house activities and events that are currently held in Crooker Center. The University plans to build a new athletic complex where Crooker Center currently stands. At the final stages of this master plan, the current JAAC would be taken down and more would be added to the high rise tower. This would become a much more expanded community space, Ludwick said.
When Ludwick was asked how the fine arts would continue to be supported by the university, he responded by mentioning a new partnership involving the studio art classes with the Glassell School of Art. He could not speak in detail about the new terms of the partnership at the time. “This would be another partnership that would take our art to a whole other level,” Ludwick said about the potential partnership.
Ludwick also revealed that UST has acquired the “Lopez Law Firm House,” located at 3900 Montrose Blvd., a lot he said the university has been trying to acquire since 1991.
Ludwick did not give the amount that was spent on this purchase, but said it was “really, really expensive.” He did not say what UST would use the house or the land for.
A question regarding student concerns about Mass times clashing with class schedules was also posed. “This is one of my pet peeves,” Ludwick responded, and said a daily Mass at 12:10 p.m. is being considered..
“One of the things that you could help us with are your faculty members,“ he said to the audience. “The faculty have the schedule that they’ve had for decades, and I’m not blaming faculty members at all. It’s because it’s convenient… so it would be a change.”
Another audience member mentioned concerns about broken accessibility door push buttons, that make it difficult for people with disabilities to get around campus.
Ludwick said he recently had a very long meeting with Angie Maxey, the director of access and disability services, to learn more about the issue. Jeff Olsen, the vice president of marketing and communication for UST, added that the university is planning on using a new software platform called Vurvey to capture feedback from students. The program would allow students to indicate which doors do not work on video.
“I think we can figure out a lot of ways to submit feedback digitally now,” said Olsen.
Ludwick noted that a new therapy dog will be added to the department of counseling and wellness services in about a month and a half. His name is Boba, and he is currently in training.
There are no plans for another question-and-answer forum with President Ludwick in the future as of publication.
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