Friday: Dedication of University Pavilion

A spring dedication ceremony will end with a splash, as University of Cincinnati President Joseph A. Steger and the incoming and outgoing undergraduate Student Government presidents flip the switch on a new, 100-foot granite fountain. The formal dedication ceremony for University Pavilion begins at 11:30 a.m. Friday, May 9, at the new fountain on University Plaza.

Mitchel D. Livingston, UC Vice President for Student Affairs and Services, says the startup of the fountain, scheduled for 12:10 p.m., will become an annual spring tradition of renewal at the University of Cincinnati. “During Convocation in the fall, freshmen pledge to support the principles for building a just and caring community. In the spring, with the turning on of the fountain, they and other members of the university family will have the opportunity to gather and renew their commitments,” he says.

The $32 million, six-story University Pavilion opened for business last December, bringing together all student service offices under one roof in the very heart of campus. Stanley E. Henderson, associate vice president for Enrollment Management, says, “This new facility will literally transform how we provide services for students.”

Designed by Leers Weinzapfel Associates with project management by GBBN Architects, the building is also an anchor point of UC’s MainStreet corridor that blends student learning and student life.

The Academy Black-and-Carnelean granite fountain holds a series of troughs and fins. Leonard Thomas, project manager for the Office of the University Architect, says the troughs contain water jets that push the water through the re-circulating fountain and into a 16-foot basin. The fountain will be illuminated at night and will symbolize the gateway to the bustling MainStreet corridor on campus.

The dedication, “Celebrating Pathways to Student Success,” will recognize the past, present and future of UC’s service to students with a ceremony honoring the hard work of past employees as well as the celebration of UC’s Just Community Initiative to build a just and caring community on campus.

Tours of University Pavilion, including a look at the One Stop Student Services Center, the University Visitors Center and the Student Success Center, will follow the ceremony.

More Background on University Pavilion.