1.       Outside Metal Facade – Clearly identifying a main entrance, this will allow for community visitors to gain access to our student center easily and highlight the name of our beloved building.

2.      Increased Square Footage and Flooring – Most notable on the second floor, the construction crew has been busy welding and supporting new pathways creating a more feasible and efficient layout to our second floor. Through these pictures you can see there will now be a path from the Bookstore leading to the women’s restroom, the Intercultural Center, the Women’s Center, the Pride Center, the Chaplain’s office and Meeting Room 2C. Additionally there will be much more square footage to the main lounge area on the second floor.

3.      Collaboration Stations – With the emphasis of group work throughout Bryant students’ academic course load and co-curricular experiences, the Student Center will be installing four group collaboration stations that will allow users to all work on the same monitor off one laptop in a comfortable environment. Beyond that, students could potentially plug in a gaming system and just relax playing video games with friends. Below is the first step of installing these systems!

4.      Improved Vending Options – Naturally Bryant students are often on the run from a meeting, to class, to an organization’s event. In order to better provide students with options to help them make it through the day, the Fisher Student Center will have an area located on the second floor dedicated to vending. These options will be available to students from open to close, offering selections when our other vendors are not available. As of right now, this spot will host a snack machine, soda machine, Navigant ATM and a change machine to get quarters for laundry on campus. This will be located where the mailboxes used to be on the second floor, behind where the new Office of Campus Engagement – Operations office will be located. No worries, the Sovereign ATM will still be available on the 1st floor near the Information Center. 

Hope you all enjoyed this week's update. The Office of Campus Engagement has been busy interviewing candidates for the open Assistant Director position in the department, and are excited to be moving forward with the process. Otherwise, look forward to more exciting information coming soon! 

     This past week the Office of Campus Engagement staff had the opportunity to head back into the newly named Fisher Student Center and check out all of the changes that have occurred since our last visit. Through this week's post and photos, you'll be able to see that the construction crew is making some serious progress on the 3rd floor. The image below clearly highlights that the horseshoe shape floor plan is no longer. The hole in the floor is filled in and the new construction now unites all areas of the third floor together. Beyond that, you can see the center divider for the 4 collaborative work stations is now framed and ready to be dry-walled. Most importantly though, you will see that the offices for the 3rd Floor Major Organizations have walls and are starting to be painted!

     Finally just wanted to thank all of the Office of Campus Engagement employees for helping out by taking the various pictures or holding signs to help denote which office belongs to which organization!

Today’s blog post includes a very special announcement from the university…the Bryant Center will open in the fall with a brand new name! This upcoming fall, our student center will be rededicated as “The Michael E. ’67 and Karen L. Fisher Student Center”!

As an esteemed alumnus, Michael has been a dedicated member of the board of trustees, serving from 1992-2001, and is now the current chair of the Board of Trustees for the University. Beyond that, Michael has had a successful career in financial services, and retired as a managing director of Barclays Global Investors.

The couple has supported Bryant for decades, financially and through their philanthropic efforts. Michael states, “I have never forgotten how Bryant once took care of us,” Michael and Karen also take pride in mentoring current students and young alumni in order to help them succeed beyond Bryant. Recently, the couple started an endowed Athletic and Academic Excellence scholarship to be awarded to an athlete showcasing leadership in both the classroom and on the field. 

With the naming of our Student Center, Dr. Eakin commented, “I am pleased that the renewed campus center will bear Mike and Karen Fisher’s name. Their leadership, financial support and encouragement for students, faculty and staff have been constant during my time at Bryant. Their story is an inspirational one that reflects the qualities and accomplishments needed to succeed professionally and personally.”

Get excited as the fall quickly approaches, only 77 days until the grand opening of The Michael E. ’67 and Karen L. Fisher Student Center!

As you all have seen through the past few weeks, there has been some serious demolition occurring throughout our building. As the project continues to move forward, dry wall is beginning to be put in place, the stairs by the Interfaith Center are taking shape, and the beginning stages of creating our new front entrances have begun. 

However, the building’s support must be reconstructed and secured before the internal renovation can make much more progress. In order to complete this, the building is going through an extensive full time welding project in order to ensure our new student center is fully stable and will support the many changes this renovation will bring. 

In honor of the 4th of July, enjoy the video below to witness the Student Center’s version of Fireworks. Those on campus get to see
these fireworks each and every night. We hope you have an incredible holiday weekend!