This editorial represents the opinion of the Bona Venture staff.
The William E. and Ann L. Swan Business Center has been open for classes for three weeks, yet Thursday marked the second ceremony in the building’s honor.
While the official Aug. 25 grand opening ceremony had more ostentatious special effects than HBO’s Liberace movie, the building is still deserving of yesterday’s dedication ceremony.
University President Sister Margaret Carney, O.S.F., justified this second ceremony in a Sept. 10 press release.
“This remarkable new facility has been open to our students for a couple weeks now, so this event is simply to formally dedicate the Swan Center. But mostly, it’s to pay tribute to those generous donors who made this dream a magnificent reality,” Sister Margaret said.
Ann Swan donated $3 million to the business building campaign in honor of her late husband, William E. Swan, ’69, according to the press release. He was a longtime Western New York business leader, philanthropist and dedicated university alumnus and Board of Trustees chair.
Yes, the ceremony may appear unnecessary considering the sheer spectacle of the last one, but Ann Swan, along with the 1,300 other donors, deserve this public display of gratitude for helping to create a wonderful new addition to campus.
It’s incredibly disrespectful to William E. Swan’s memory and to all the other donors to write off their generous support of the school as another unnecessary ceremony.
The opening of the building is a grand milestone for the business school. Formally blessing and dedicating it serves as a wonderful way to kickoff the school year, even if we’ve already been in class for a few weeks.
With a two-story, glass-enclosed atrium and gathering space, a corporate boardroom simulator, state-of-the-art classrooms and seminar/study rooms, a financial services lab (trading room) complete with digital ticker and a center for student entrepreneurial studies among many other features, the new business building deserves to be showcased again because it’s unlike anything already on campus. The new features may help boost enrollment for the university, which is definitely worthy of commemoration.
Additionally, it served as a gorgeous backdrop for the university’s 9/11 memorial service on Wednesday. Sure, some students may be sick of hearing about it, but it really is a stunning addition to campus and should be celebrated as such.
Despite the Reilly Center and Richter Center parking lots being closed to accommodate the more than 200 guests expected at the ceremony yesterday, the ceremony isn’t inconveniencing anyone on campus. Is it really worth complaining about?
If having a repeat celebration of this bright and beautiful sight on campus still seems redundant, at least take the time to toast to the idea that construction of new and exciting buildings can actually happen in our lifetime, versus the long and trying tale of the still-just-a-sign Bonaventure Square.
