The $21 million Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center was officially dedicated yesterday on North Campus and is expected to mold better alumni-university relationships, which will help bring the university out of traditionally low fundraising rates.
University President Dan Mote said the alumni center would have “profound” influence on networking – helping students find better internships and jobs – and fundraising. In his 2003 State of the Campus address, Mote stressed that, in the face of budget cuts, the university must seek more private funding to stay competitive with its peers.
With the alumni center, the university can “make the maximum impact in the region, and even on a national and international scale,” Mote said. “Places like this will do a wide range of things as great, if not greater than fundraising.”
Danita Nias, executive director of the university’s Alumni Association, said just having the building itself – funded fully by alumni and private donations and 10 years in the making - is an achievement that will bring fundraising.
“We have exceeded many of our goals; we now have 200 donors,” Nias said.
In February the university received two $30 million donations from alumni, each marking the largest contribution to a public institution in the state’s history.
The gifts pointed to the university’s increased reliability on private and alumni donations in light of decreased state support. The university received about $86 million in donations during the 2004 fiscal year, about $50 million more than the amount received a decade earlier.
Since its doors opened in March, the alumni center has hosted numerous events, including the Alumni Hall of Fame induction in June. Eventually, the alumni association hopes the center will become a choice venue for other alumni college programs and club events.
While many students appreciate the work and money put into the project, they also do not view the building as completely relevant to their future lives.
“It will be nice for tailgating and other events like that, if that’s your thing, but I doubt that I’ll get much use out of it,” said sophomore art studio major Attie Abranovic.
Others, like sophomore letters and sciences major Matt Traum, view the alumni center as something that will benefit them depending on if they stay in Maryland after graduating.
“Honestly, right now, I’m not worried about it,” says Traum. “Later on down the road, sure. But unless I live in the area, I don’t see myself visiting it too much.”
The project saw its start about 10 years ago, when talks began between the Alumni Association and Samuel K. Riggs IV, who provided the lead donation and whose name the center bears. Ground was broken in 2003, and in March the Alumni Association moved its offices to the facility.
“The project was substantially completed in the spring of this year, so the last couple months have seen very little construction,” said Carlo Colella, director of architecture, engineering and construction. “It’s been mainly warranty work within the building.”
In addition to the Alumni Association’s offices, the Riggs Center includes a 500-seat hall and a private club room for members of the Maryland Club.
Contact reporters Sean Gentille and Roxana Hadadi at newsdesk@dbk.umd.edu.
