AS A COLLEGE student who has taken Commerce courses, I'm happy to know that future generations won't have to share my Commerce School envy. Now that the Board of Visitors has voted to tear down New Cabell Hall, future students won't bear the shame of loud air-conditioning window units you can't use, chairs bolted to the floor, and very un-Jeffersonian architecture.
Current students won't be here when the building is completed, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't put our time and money into the project. Our class gift money and support as young alumni are vital to making the New Cabell Hall a reality.
Beyond just plain ugliness, the structure itself is in bad shape. The University's latest facilities report shows 12 buildings in fair or poor condition, and lists New Cabell Hall as one of the worst. This is a major problem in College students' daily lives, as almost every student has at least one class there and has to visit professors there for office hours.
But it also detracts from the University's image when a building at the end of the Lawn, visited by many prospective students and parents alike, is in a horrible state of disrepair. Additionally, most rooms aren't equipped for the technology existing in other buildings. It's not a good place to let prospective students or parents visit, and it makes alumni cringe.
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Renovating New Cabell has been on wish lists for capital projects for at least five years, according to Colette Sheehy, vice president for management and budget. But before proceeding, the Board had to decide on how to structure the project and get a basic plan for finding the money. With a plan for two new buildings and funding aid from alumni, the $126.7 million project can get underway. But there is still much to be done.
Even in good times, the University has had trouble getting money from the Commonwealth for new building projects. A planned new fine arts building had to be postponed this spring, and the new Special Collections library was frozen before resuming construction. President John T. Casteen III has gone on record admitting that it will be a challenge to fund this new project.
Realizing that private money continually has been the only reliable way to get anything built around here, a group of College alumni established the new College Foundation. As a result, nearly half of the money for the new buildings is expected to come from this foundation.
Because of the inability to rely on state funding, the foundation has agreed to contribute $61 million, nearly half the cost of the construction. Current students and recent alumni support is needed to come up with the money.
As students become fourth years and graduate, they can make the project a priority for giving. Starting this year, class gifts can be directed to any area of the student's choosing. By designating their gift to the College Foundation, students can help with the building project.
It is true that most of us will not be making large class gifts. Yet the concept of the class gift has never been to raise millions of dollars. It has a symbolic value and gets students into the habit of giving. If students continue giving to the foundation each year as young alumni with paychecks, the funds surely will grow.
More importantly, our gifts can motivate potential big givers to contribute to the new building. In an interview, Alan Roberts, president of the College Foundation, noted that the new plan changed the building concept significantly and thus "the formula for raising funds," since most of the foundation's money is pledges, not cash in hand. For this reason, Roberts could not give an exact size of the fund, but could only say that "a large percent of the funds needed were committed to the old project and that probably won't change."
But much more is needed, Roberts admits, and trustees are soliciting donors all over the country. By showing the project is worth the little we have, students and young alumni can make a case for why these donors should care. Large givers want their money to make a difference, so students can demonstrate that a large gift to what the foundation is calling the "South Lawn Project" would do just that.
Current College students need to commit themselves to aiding the new Arts & Sciences buildings and the rebuilding of New Cabell, so that these will remain priorities. Because of the expense involved, this won't just happen. The class of 2002 has spent four years complaining - it's time we put our money where our mouths are, so that other members of the community will too.
(Elizabeth Managan's column appears Wednesdays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at emanagan@cavalierdaily.com.)
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