‘Tell them we’re building’
Leader photo by Caleb Daniel
Grambling State University administrators and a host of other dignitaries perform the groundbreaking ceremony at the site of a new $25 million Student Success Center coming to the university’s quad.
Graphic courtesy of GSU
This rendering by design firm Mc3lroy Architecture, PLLC, out of Jackson, Mississippi, shows the vision for the $ 25 million Student Success Center coming to the quad on Grambling State University campus. Officials ceremonially broke ground on the facility Thursday. It aims to consolidate many student services around campus into a one-stop shop for students.
GRAMBLING — Engaging with campus services will soon become easier and more efficient for students at Grambling State University.
That’s the idea behind a new $25 million Student Success Center building coming soon to GSU’s quadrangle.
Dignitaries from across the university, city and state gathered at the project site on the quad’s east side Thursday to break ground on the building, which will consolidate many student service offices under one roof.
“When you think about the consumer experience, you want as few touchpoints throughout that process, and you want to streamline that process,” GSU President Martin Lemelle, Jr. said. “Instead of students having to walk to two, four, five buildings, they can now come to one building.”
Black and Gold Facilities, Inc. — a private nonprofit that serves as a fundraising and capital improvement arm of the university — received $25 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds to finance the project.
“I haven’t been this proud or excited since May of 2010 when we opened the Eddie Robinson Museum,” Black and Gold Facilities Chairman Robert Clark said.
The Student Success Center is designed to become a center of the campus experience, relocating services like registration, admissions, housing, financial aid and more, and giving those offices better facilities and technology to engage with students.
It’ll bookend the quad from the east side along with administrative building Long-Jones Hall from the west.
The federal funds were dedicated, and the plans laid, during the tenure of previous GSU President Rick Gallot, now president of the University of Louisiana System, who reflected on the considerations his administration made for how the relief dollars could best be used.
“How could we make a lasting mark on this university, the students of today and the future?” Gallot said.
The project has no estimated completion date yet.
As Lemelle, a former GSU administrator, approaches a half-year under his belt as the university’s new president, he spoke of this upcoming stateof- the- art facility not only as a student benefit, but also as a sign of things to come for Grambling State, repeating the refrain, “tell them we’re building.”
“Tell them we’re building a durable, efficient and awe-inspiring (structure) that stands as a testament to our students and stakeholders,” Lemelle said. “ This development represents the dawn of a new reality, one where our built environment reflects the greatness of Grambling State University.”
