The University Arts and Sciences Council presented a $5,000 gift to the South Lawn project at its annual Rotunda dinner last night.
The $125 million South Lawn project will encompass the destruction and rebuilding of New Cabell Hall and renovations to Cocke and Rouss Halls. It also will include the construction of a new building across Jefferson Park Avenue from the South Lawn, currently the site of a University parking lot.
"Instead of JPA being the back of the University, JPA will become a new entrance," said Joseph E. Grasso, associate dean for planning and operations.
The University and the College Foundation, an alumni organization, will split much of the project's cost. Yet the ASC contribution was "symbolic," Grasso said.
The primary task of ASC, a student run organization, "is to act as liaisons between the students and the faculty," said ASC representative Mollie Sledd, a second-year College student.
The South Lawn project also hopes to bring students and faculty together by creating communal spaces such as a cafe, Grasso said.
"We're not only building buildings. We're building community," he said.
The money for the gift comes from a nine-year surplus of funds allocated to ASC by the University, Sledd said.
"This is money that ASC has accumulated from previous students and we're giving it to future students," said ASC president Lauren Purnell, a third-year College student.
The council wanted to do something that would be both lasting and of great benefit to students, said third-year College student Chris Husser, the ASC chief technology officer who spearheaded the idea of giving to the South Lawn project.
University officials planning the South Lawn project also liked the idea of having the first gift come from students.
"This gift is a way to open the door and to involve you in the most robust way possible," Grasso said, addressing the council.
Student participation in designing the project also was important.
The University relied on student input for the South Lawn project through both focus groups and individual contributions. A Web site for the project also was in the works, he said.
Although design and fundraising efforts had just begun on the project, construction might begin in 18 months, according to University Architect Samuel A. "Pete" Anderson.
"The gift will really be the cornerstone in creating an extension of the Academical Village," Grasso said.
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