Last week we celebrated the inauguration of our 13th President with a week full of events including the opening of new a new science laboratory, the dedication of the international walkway, and ribbon cutting for the Institute for Well Being.
The week culminated on Friday when Dr. Maravene Loeschke was officially installed as Towson University’s 13th President. The ceremony itself was a great blend of celebrating Towson’s history and future. The most memorable moment for me was when Dr. Loeschke personally recognized each of the Administrative Assistants who have supported her throughout her years—while I know it meant a lot to those specific women, it also meant a lot to the hundreds of administrative staff who make such a difference everyday at TU. You can watch the ceremony here.
The Institute for Well Being
The Institute for Well Being is made up of four primary centers that all focus on providing clinical services for the community and simultaneously hands-on experience for our students. The centers include the (recently renamed) Hussman Center for Adults with Autism, The Wellness Center, The Speech, Language, and Hearing Center, and the Occupational Therapy Center.
Ribbon Cutting for the Institute for Well Being
On Wednesday, the ribbon was cut on their incredible new space in the Towson City Center building. I was blown away by the facility, as was everyone else. I heard students, community members, and faculty saying things like “this is incredible,” “what an upgrade,” “the elevators operate on ipads–whoa,” etc. This space provides state-of-the-art learning and research opportunities for students. Our graduate degrees in these areas have always been among our most competitive and highest ranked programs but I’m sure we’re only going to see those numbers going up!
In addition to the clear growth each of the centers are going to realize in terms of programming and participation, selfishly, I’m also excited to see what new opportunities will arise for the entire university because of our new footprint in downtown Towson. I can’t help but crack a smile every time I see the logo on top of the building—looks great, right!
Towson’s Newly Renovated City Center Building
In January, TU’s radio station WTMD will make the move to the City Center, where they will be occupying 8,000 square footage of recording, programming, and office space.
As a side note, tomorrow marks the beginning of 2012 TU Homecoming, which means tons of student and alumni events throughout the week ending with a home football game on Saturday–Go Tigers! However, since we’re just coming off the heels of Inauguration Week it feels like the action-packed schedule of events is really just a continuation of the celebration.
