By: Sara Piatetsky, Lion’s Eye Staff Writer, svp5316@psu.edu
The Penn State Brandywine community came together to celebrate the beginning of Building Brandywine, the official tagline of the growing campus.
As Chancellor Kristin Woolever said in her opening statement on Tuesday, March 29, this day has been a long day coming. The campus community came together to commemorate the groundbreaking of the student union and residence halls. The location of the buildings is between the Tomezsko building and Vairo library and behind the library.
The ceremony marked the official start of construction for the residence halls and student union, though the construction started to impact the campus in February.
“[The residence hall and student union] propel our campus to new heights of achievement within the Penn State system,” Dr. John Tierney, a chemistry professor on campus, who was one of the many speakers from the ceremony, said. “Our hats go off to all those individuals who believe in us as a campus and who made this dream come true.”
In addition to faculty, staff and students who attended the ceremony, members of the Penn State and Middletown communities also came to show their support. Those in attendance also included State Representative Tom Killion, Delaware County Council Chairman Mario Civera and Jerry Parsons of the Brandywine advisory board and a member of Penn State Brandywine’s first graduating class.
The groundbreaking ceremony was the celebration of the campus taking final steps in becoming a complete campus with residence halls and also to thank those who supported the campus through the process.
Dr. Madlyn L. Hanes, Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses, who originally began her Penn State career at Brandywine’s campus, was on hand as well to commemorate the occasion.
“This campus has every reason to celebrate as it reaches its full potential and ability to grow and serve an increasing number of students,” Hanes said. “The residence halls and student union are a reflection of confidence the university has in the Penn State Brandywine community.”
The campus community will be able to witness the progress as the construction continues. The hashtag #BuildingBrandywine will be used to provide updates on social media.
The expected completion date for the dorms is August 2017, which will be celebrated with an official ribbon cutting ceremony.