Beck Academic Hall Officially Dedicated Posted on September 26th, 2011 by

Beck Academic Hall opened its doors to students and faculty on Tuesday, Sept. 6. It will be officially dedicated on Saturday, Oct. 1.

The Warren & Donna Beck Academic Hall, the newest building on the Gustavus Adolphus College campus, was officially dedicated on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 10:30 a.m., as part of the College’s Homecoming Weekend activities.

The 125,000 square foot, $30 million building is named after alumni Warren ’67 and Donna ’66 Beck, acknowledging a generous gift to the College from the couple.

“This is a very exciting time on our campus,” President Ohle said. “Beck Academic Hall is a state-of-the-art building where Gustavus faculty and students will be engaged in teaching and learning for decades to come. We are grateful to the Becks and the Board of Trustees for the leadership they have shown to make this building a reality.”

Beck Academic Hall houses the academic departments of Communication Studies, Economics and Management, History, Psychology, and Sociology and Anthropology. The building sits to the west of the Folke Bernadotte Memorial Library along the new West Mall, which is currently under construction.

Along with state-of-the-art classroom tools and technologies, Beck Academic Hall features psychology labs designed to help foster student-faculty collaboration and interdisciplinary research, a digital arts lab, studio space for GAC-TV and KGSM Radio, a large team room for the College’s nationally ranked Forensics Program, and dedicated space for the College’s Neuroscience Program.

Another unique aspect of the building is the amount of space available for students to gather and collaborate outside the classroom. In addition to the building’s large atrium, each academic department has a student interaction space where students can study, hold meetings, and socialize before, after, and in between classes.

“Beck Academic Hall really raises the bar when it comes to the opportunities students will be afforded both inside and outside the classroom,” said Professor and Chair of Psychology Dr. Jennifer Ackil, who served as faculty liaison for the construction of Beck Hall. “This will not be a 9 to 5 building. We think this building will have a vibrancy to it that will draw students into ongoing intellectual conversations, research activity, and creative pursuits with each other and with faculty.”

Click here to view a gallery of photos of Beck Academic Hall.

Click here to view the Beck Academic Hall brochure.

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Media Contact: Director of Media Relations and Internal Communication Luc Hatlestad
luch@gustavus.edu
507-933-7510

 

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