Center for Student Life and College of Business Building Donors Thanked at Groundbreaking Ceremony

Today marked a day of thanksgiving at the University of Findlay as more than 200 gathered to celebrate the groundbreaking for the Center for Student Life and College of Business. Donors who are making the dream a reality received praise before joining administrators, trustees and building contractors in donning hard hats, gripping shovels and turning dirt.
Uncooperative weather meant the ceremony was held inside the Davis Street Building; one local newspaper photographer joked that he’d never attended an indoor groundbreaking. But attendees enjoyed a good view of the adjacent construction site, where some structures have already been cleared to make way for the project.
Nick Thompson, president of UF’s Student Government Association, kicked off the ceremony by explaining that the entire student community is “enthusiastic and excited” about what it considers to be an inspirational endeavor. He told donors that their generosity is the perfect example of why future UF graduates should fiscally and fondly remember their alma mater and how they too can make an impact.
Sherri Garner Brumbaugh, who is the project’s campaign cabinet members and, with husband Jerry Brumbaugh, a donor, thanked President Katherine Fell, Ph.D., for “her vision and her passion for bricks and mortar.”
“We do it all for you,” Brumbaugh told the students in the crowd, adding that she thinks the building and grounds will be greatly enjoyed by many.
Board of Trustees Chair A.R. Charnes, also a donor along with his wife, assured College of Business students that because of the sound education they are receiving at UF, they will succeed.
“This building is not just another facility, but a place that will inspire our Oilers, and that is critical to the development of the campus,” Charnes said. “This facility will play a large role in helping us to provide the type of campus atmosphere that we are striving for daily.
Fell also thanked the donors for their generosity, and the faculty and staff for their commitment to existing and future students.
“In August of 2017 we will celebrate a new building. Lives will be transformed in small part and in large part because of each of you. The building will measure 75,000 square feet, but the inspiration it will provide will be immeasurable. Today you’re helping us make history,” Fell concluded.