Photo taken by: Minju Kim / Staff Photographer
S. L. FULLER
News Editor
The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the University Village Townhouses, which took place on Sept. 3, could not have been held on a more beautiful day. The blue sky and sunshine complemented the pristine buildings and bright landscaping within the new complex.
“We prayed for weather last night and look what happened,” said Vice President of Student Affairs, Dr. David Herman, during his speech at the ceremony. “It’s just a gorgeous day.”
Many were in attendance including residence directors and residence assistants from the other residential buildings, faculty and students.
Jordan Holmes, a junior Spanish adolescent education major, came to the ceremony while taking a break from work.
“It’s kind of a big deal,” Holmes said about the opening of the new townhouses. “[I just wanted] to check out the townhouses [and] see what the inside is like.”
Tours of the townhouses were available after the ceremony. Holmes admired the look of the new residential buildings, but said the cost is keeping him from living there.
Despite the fact that University Village did not meet its recruitment goal, everyone agreed that the buildings are still something to be proud of.
“In reality, Fredonia is on the move. And [the construction of the townhouses] is just the latest evidence of Fredonia’s continuing pattern of being one of the top colleges in the nation in terms of student quality, outcomes, rankings and value,” said New York State Assemblyman of the 150th district, Andy Goddell. “And what you are sitting around is not only an attractive building complex, but one that is state-of-the-art in terms of energy efficiency and design standards.”
Besides Herman and Gooddell, other speakers at the ceremony were Fredonia President Dr. Virginia Horvath; College Council Chair Frank Pagano; Student Association President Antonio Regulier; Lisa Vanstrom, who was speaking on behalf of New York State Senator Catharine Young of the 57th district; Craig Jensen from Chaintreuil Jensen Stark Architects; and Senior Director of Public Construction of the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) Paul Koopman. Fredonia Mayor Stephen Keefe was also in attendance. He didn’t make a speech, but he did assist in cutting the ribbon.
“This has been a dream of the campus’s for at least all the years that I’ve been here, and I’ve been here since 2005,” said Horvath during the ceremony. “And we’ve talked about having space on campus for students to experience the joy and the education that they can get from independent living as part of their college experience in the convenience and safety of university housing.”
The dream has become a reality and both the university and the Village of Fredonia have high hopes for the effects the townhouses will have.
Even though Keefe wants to promote the Village of Fredonia and have students move into downtown housing options, he thinks competition from University Village will be beneficial. After the ceremony, Keefe mentioned how the look and the living standard set by the new townhouses will encourage landlords downtown to maintain the upkeep of their own units.
During his speech, Herman also explained how he hopes the creation of University Village will attract more students to the university.
“We started planning [University Village] a long time ago when we were maxed out on enrollment and we had many, many students coming from other countries,” said Herman. “We hope that [the townhouses] will help us get back to those levels.”
Throughout the different speeches, there was an emphasis on how University Village is a partnership between the students and the university. To display this relationship, not only did Regulier speak on behalf of the students and the Student Association, he also assisted in the cutting of the ribbon.
“During my four years here, Fredonia has changed significantly. First came Dod’s fitness center, then the new science building and now, the village townhouses,” said Regulier during his speech. “Believe me when I tell you, I’m just a little jealous because the freshmen and incoming will have a lot more time than I will have [with this facility].”