In another milestone for FAU, the university broke ground on the building of its first alumni center on Feb. 6. The $3.8 million, 13,000-square-foot building will serve as the focal point of communications between the university and its over 100,000 alumni.
“This building will be a centerpiece for our alumni to get in contact with us,” Vice President of Student Affairs Charles Brown said. “It will increase active alumni involvement and also bring the university more donations.”
The two-story Marleen and Harold Forkas Alumni Center will feature numerous meeting rooms, a professional development center, three classrooms, and it will be the new home of FAU’s alumni affairs center.
Pat Breman, assistant vice president of alumni affairs, says that this is something her department has always waited for. “Since I came here 10 years ago, I have always thought that an alumni center would mark our university’s coming of age. It will give our many alumni a place to come home to and be our way of telling them how much their generosity means to us.”
In addition to accommodating alumni affairs, the building will serve as the meeting place of FAU’s Student Alumni Association, and it will host the annual hall of fame/distinguished alumni reception every May.
As a special tribute to FAU alumni, the building will feature a library room dedicated to them. The room will be located right next to the grand hall/ballroom and will have pictures and bios of FAU’s distinguished and hall of fame alumni. In the future, the university would like to include books written by FAU’s many published alumni in the library of the Alumni Center.
Student Body President Austin Shaw, who gave a speech at the groundbreaking, said of the new center, “This is truly a beautiful building that, thanks to the generosity of the Forkas,’ will serve as the epicenter of alumni communication and help bring important financial benefits to the university.”
The building was financed with a million-dollar donation from Marleen and Harold Forkas that was later matched by the State of Florida. The rest of the money came from private donations, including distinguished FAU contributors Carole and Barry Kaye for whom the grand hall/ballroom is named.
Construction of the building is slated for completion at the end of this year. It will be located northwest of the breezeway and just north of the college of Business.
