Business Building in Business

Students and faculty have been using it all semester but the new $16 million College of Business building officially opened last night.  By 6 p.m., about 120 people, many of them donors to and corporate sponsors of the building, had gathered in the building to toast the event with wine, cheese and speeches.

The grand opening originally was an invitation-only event that excluded almost all faculty and staff members, including the ones working in the building, and students. When we arrived, without an invitation, we were told that the invitation requirement had been dropped.

photo courtesy uca.edu

Organizers had invited Gov. Mike Beebe to speak at the event but he didn't attend. Several state legislators also were invited but we couldn't find any of them. Organizers confirmed that none of them made it.

UCA Pres. Allen Meadors addressed the crowd in the building's 168-seat auditorium, thanking the faculty of the business school for creating a program that required the 78,000-square-foot building and the donors for supporting its construction.

"We're very proud of this building...it has a lot of attributes that will allow our students to feel comfortable in the corporate entity they will go and work in," Meadors said.

You can view his entire speech here:

• Pin It
• Share
• Tweet