By Ilene Kleinsorge, Dean and Sara Hart-Kimball Chair
I have gotten new keys before. When I rented my first apartment. When I bought my first house in Kansas. When I moved to Corvallis. When I’ve purchased a new car. When I started at the College of Business. When I moved into the dean’s office.
But on August 29, 2014, I was given a key like none other: my very own master key to Austin Hall, a building I and so many others had dreamed about for years.
I had been on many tours of the building during the 17 months of construction, to see a new stage of the project completed or a special new feature in place. I had dutifully worn my hardhat, safety goggles and brightly reflective safety vest. Always, a project manager, operations director or someone else from the crew tagged along to keep me safe and answer my questions.
But on this day I entered Austin Hall with my new key, no safety gear, no escort and an urge to explore. It was a Friday afternoon before a three-day weekend and it was exceptionally quiet — just me, my key and my thoughts. After the weekend, truckloads of boxes from Bexell Hall would arrive and our excited faculty and staff would start unpacking and settling in. Students would arrive and the building would transform into the bustling new home of the College of Business.
But this afternoon was my afternoon. Feeling almost like a trespasser, I explored the building and began to see the dream come true.
Going floor to floor, I sat in the last row of one classroom, stood at the front in another, admired the views from several faculty offices, stopped by Trader Bing’s café (it wasn’t quite open for business), paused at the lovely fireplace, meandered through the new home of our Career Success Center and Academic Advising, read the giant abacus (you’ll want to come visit to see what I mean), walked through the front door of the new dean’s suite, sat in my office chair for a bit and then continued along.
Knowing that it would never again be this peaceful, I sought to take in the details of each space. Along the way I had fleeting moments of anxiety. Did we get this part right? Is this room big enough? Are students going to use all of these project rooms? Will donors be proud of and understand what they invested in? Is there anything we forgot?
My doubt or second-guessing was pushed aside as my mind was drawn back to what this building means to so many people, including alumni, business partners, friends, legislators and Oregon taxpayers who invested more than $50 million to make this dream, our dream, their dream, a reality.
Our faculty and staff had thrown themselves into planning the building’s use of space, attending workshops and committee meetings with the design team, poring over floor plans to consider every detail, determining the best technology. They eagerly prepared for the move and showed the utmost patience in managing all the details while still continuing their “normal” jobs.
As I neared the end of my self-guided tour, I envisioned our students — the reason we do what we do — collaborating in the open spaces and preparing for their careers in areas whose intelligent design and appropriateness for the work at hand would expand their opportunities and chances for success. I thought of generations of Oregon Staters who would engage with their professors and one another in classrooms with state-of-the-art technology and the capacity to support, grow and continue to showcase the excellent programs and people of the college.
It was a little difficult to leave Austin Hall that day, and I won’t ever forget exploring the building and realizing a dream was coming true for our college, our alumni, our faculty and our students. Still, I wondered if the students would truly grasp and appreciate what it all meant. I wouldn’t have to wait long for an answer.
In the second week after students were allowed in the building, I walked into my office and there was a card from a student on my Dean’s Student Leadership Circle. There was a big thumbs-up on the front. I opened it and read:
Dear Ilene,
As I walked through Austin Hall for the first time, I couldn’t help but feel especially proud to be a part of the College of Business. You have given the college a facility that is fit for the quality of the work we do. By giving students a place like Austin Hall to attend classes, meet with student groups and develop businesses, I feel more than ever that you are committed to and serious about our education and success. I have been in Austin Hall every day since it opened and I can’t wait to see it bustling with students and staff, masterfully accommodating all College of Business activity come fall term.
As I write this we are a little more than midway through fall term. Austin Hall is full of energy, activity and collaboration. Our faculty and students are taking to it like they knew they were destined all along to teach and learn in such marvelous spaces.
And those nagging worries I had about whether we’d gotten it right, and whether we would embrace and rise to the challenge of our new home? Those are gone, put away like my hardhat and my safety vest.
I don’t need them anymore. I have the key.
This article was published in the Winter 2015 Oregon Stater. The full issue can be viewed here.
