Groundbreaking for Carole Weinstein International Center set for Oct. 3; facility for burgeoning international programs will be larger than planned
September 30, 2008
When the University of Richmond breaks ground Oct. 3 for a facility to house its award-winning international education program, the original $18 million, 40,000-square-foot project announced in August 2007 will be expanded to a $20.4 million, 57,000-square-foot facility.
Carole Weinstein, Richmond alumna, former trustee and donor of $9 million for construction of the building, will join current students and university officials in digging the first shovels full of earth in a 3 p.m. ceremony between Jepson and Sarah Brunet halls on campus.
The Carole Weinstein International Center will house the Office of International Education, which orchestrates the university's study-abroad and international exchange programs. It also will house several departments and interdisciplinary programs focused on international issues or whose work offers a global perspective.
"International education is so much more than sending our students abroad or welcoming students from other countries to our campus," Weinstein says. "It's about building a bridge between cultures—understanding each other's leadership models, legal systems, business styles, customs and values. We are already living in a world that is irrevocably interconnected. What we need now is to enhance it and to make it a positive force."
The center's high-tech classrooms will allow Richmond faculty and students to collaborate in real time with professors and students at partner universities around the world.
There also will be meeting space for the university's international students and scholars, teaching and social settings for faculty-student interaction, state-of-the-art language instruction, faculty offices and programmatic venues.
Weinstein notes that the design of the building complements the Collegiate Gothic architecture Richmond's campus is known for, but also serves as a metaphor for global interconnectedness.
"The building is designed around an axis which links all our students as they cross from one side of the campus to the other, and it also links them across the curriculum—from the liberal arts and sciences, business, leadership studies, law and continuing studies—because all will have a presence in the new international center," she explains.
The international center has been designed using the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. Water-efficient fixtures will reduce water usage by 20 percent. Insulation and energy-efficient equipment will optimize energy performance by 21 percent. Construction waste recycling, regionally manufactured materials, responsible forest-use products and reducing indoor pollution will be among the long list of standards to be applied.
During the first 21 years of Richmond's international education program, courses with international content and faculty with international teaching and research experience have increased significantly. Study-abroad participation has skyrocketed to 55 percent. The number of international students attending Richmond has topped 200 representing more than 70 countries—7 percent of the student body.
Newsweek magazine, in its 2007 college guide, named Richmond as the country's "hottest school" for international studies.