Union University celebrated the groundbreaking of its new McAfee School of Business building on Friday, Sept. 9 at 2 p.m.
The ceremony included a welcome from Union president Samuel W. “Dub” Oliver and words of thanksgiving from Tom McAfee, chairman and president of Hallmark Systems, Inc. Additionally, students in the represented fields—business, engineering and computer science—participated in the breaking of ground alongside their department heads.
“The groundbreaking ceremony was a great and monumental moment to be a part of,” junior computer science major Nicolas Harris said.
The groundbreaking ceremony marked the first step in the university’s campus master plan, which was adopted by Union trustees on Sept. 6, 2019. Three years later, students and faculty gathered to witness the historic groundbreaking.
The 40,000-square-foot academic building will stand west of White Hall on the great lawn. The building is to host the McAfee School of Business, which is located in the Blasingame Academic Complex at present, as well as the engineering and computer science departments: both of which are currently in the Pennick Academic Complex.
The building is set to offer state-of-the-art technology that Union has yet to make available for its students. That technology will introduce opportunities for collaboration between the business, engineering and computer science departments.
“I think we’re blissfully unaware of the potential that is being created,” Brian Glas, acting chair of the computer science department, said about the academic opportunities that come with the new building.
“Holding that shovel, standing with Professor Glas … was the moment I realized that by being a socially active and hardworking computer science student, I was already ‘breaking the ground’ for the future of my department,” Harris said regarding the groundbreaking ceremony.
The McAfee School of Business building is set to be completed by spring 2024. Union has currently raised $14.4 million of the $20 million needed to build the new academic building.
To donate to the new building, visit www.givecampus.com/campaigns/14909/donations/new.
To read more about the campus master plan, visit www.uu.edu/jackson/master-plan/.
Editor’s note: Brian Glas is the author’s father.
