At its meeting in early June, the University’s Board of Regents approved a plan to move the School of Theology back to central campus. The move will provide improved access to University resources for seminarians and will integrate the school more closely into other facets of campus life.
Longtime faculty and staff members, and generations of alumni, will recall that the School of Theology was located in St. Luke’s Hall until 1984. The new location—planned on the current site of the Bishop’s Common—will place the School very near its original home on campus.
The School of Theology move, part of a university-wide, upcoming capital campaign to be implemented over the next several years, will enhance the academic experience and affirm the University’s Episcopal identity.
The University’s current strategic and master plans identify the need for a new complex for the School of Theology that will include state-of-the-art academic, conference and residential facilities for both the seminary and the Beecken Center. The campus master planners worked with the School of Theology dean and faculty to identify needs, including adequate space for the Beecken Center and its long-standing program Education for Ministry.
“This move will have an impact upon the School of Theology and the University for decades to come,” said Vice-Chancellor John McCardell. “I am pleased that the Regents determined that a central campus relocation of the School is not only feasible, but the right thing to do.”
In February the Board of Regents heard a report about potential sites and programs from the Rt. Rev. J. Neil Alexander, dean of the School of Theology. Based on that, the Regents asked staff members to move forward with more detailed concepts and plans for a central campus site. The resulting plan to move to the Bishop’s Common location was approved in June, after the Regents reviewed options developed with an architecture firm.
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