Early last month, Marleen and Harold Forkas handed over a check for one million dollars to the Florida Atlantic University Alumni Association. The association will get its own center and the Forkas’ will get their name on it – The Marleen and Harold Forkas Alumni Center. Neither Marleen nor Harold are graduates of FAU but they are “big believers in education,” Marleen said. They were also involved in the founding of the football program. Marleen said they wanted to do something for the university. They chose the Alumni Center after Pat Breman, the assistant vice president of Alumni Relations, and whom they were friendly with, explained the plans of it to them. Marleen felt there was a need to have, “a home for all of the graduates to come back to.” Construction on the $3.2 million, 9,000 sq. foot building should begin next fall but the location is still up in the air.Ideally, Breman would like to see the new center near the core of the Boca Campus in order to make it more accessible to the students. She would like the students to get used to using the center so once they graduate, they will already be familiar with it. Breman would also like to see the facility used by faculty, staff, students, and the community. As of now the building will include a library, meeting rooms, classrooms, a great hall, office space and a lighthouse tower. She’s hoping some classes will meet in the new building. The lighthouse tower will symbolize the Alumni Association’s mission to guide graduates home and will light up after each commencement ceremony and in celebration of athletic victories. Some of the facilities on the inside of the building still need to be named. So for $250,000 you could have your name on the Lighthouse Tower, or on the fountain for only $100,000.
Categories:
Planned Alumni Center Gets Funding and a Name
February 10, 2006
0
More to Discover