Entering into the Harper Center, students are bound to get more than one thing done with one stop.
Get a flu shot, receive academic advice, find a job, grab a bite to eat and, if time allows, stop at Billy Blue’s Alumni Grill for a drink (if of age) and chat with Creighton alumni and gain advice from those who have been there.
The Mike and Josie Harper Center for student life and learning is designed to integrate academic and student services in a one-stop shop on the east side of Creighton’s campus.
The center follows the Jesuit principle of cura personalis, meaning care of the entire person in mind, body and spirit.
“Integration of traditional student services and academic affairs is what the new paradigm, the new model is for educating for life in a real, living, learning environment,” said The Rev. John P. Schlegel, S.J., Creighton president, during an interview on Tuesday.
“That’s what this is, a combination of both academic and student service focus. We want to educate within an environment not just in a classroom.
Moving on up
New to freshmen, returning students, faculty and staff alike, everyone gets to experience the new Harper Center together and look lost while doing so. Not only does the Harper Center house a convenience store, alumni grill and coffee shop, classrooms and meeting rooms, but it also houses offices from around campus.
“You put financial aid and admissions together, that makes perfectly good sense,” Shlegel said. “Well let’s follow the student all the way through. You also put career placement and career advising— and you can come in as a pre-freshman and go out the door with a job.”
Some of the offices may sound new to some, but a few, such as the Mutual of Omaha Center for Health and Counseling, have merged from the previous offices of the Student Health Center and Counseling and Psychological services, for the benefit of the students.
“It puts them all in close proximity working together to be better for students,” said Tanya Winegard, assistant vice president of Student Life.
The building, designed in the architectural style Collegiate Gothic, is one of the largest on campus. The Harper Center is 245,658 square feet while the Skutt Student Center is about 55,000 square feet.
“You could essentially fit one floor of Harper into all of the Skutt Student Center,” Eric Yarwood, associate director for the Harper and Skutt Student Centers said.
The Harper Center is meant for more than just Creighton. Schlegel said he hopes it will become a popular venue for non-Creighton events, a front door into the city, and will bring several events right to campus for students to access.
The Harper Center has already received a large number of reservations from organizations and activities both off and on campus. The Hixson-Lied Auditorium is scheduled for Mayor Fahey’s last state of the city address. Another event that will be located in the Harper Center will be the law school reunion with Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito present.
With the new space, alumni reunions and other Creighton events, which usually took place off-campus, now have the opportunity to not only stay on-campus, but also to be at Creighton’s new front door, Winegard said.
“What better way to expose people to the Creighton experience?”
You may not know
“The Harper Center was built with students in mind,” Winegard said.
Even students making the trek from Rigge Science can easily get to their Harper Center class by going in the main entrance and then walking right up the steps to the third floor, where most of the classrooms are located.
Creighton officials wanted the new building to leave behind a small environmental footprint. The building exceeds architecture, construction and operations standards called the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).
To go green, the Harper Center includes carpet made of recycled materials and occupancy sensors in offices, classrooms and meeting rooms that shut off the lights and reduce air flow when the rooms are not in use.
A new walkway mall stretching from Morrison Stadium to 20th Street has been named Venteicher Mall for George W. and Susan J. Venteicher. George Venteicher, 1962 graduate of the Creighton University School of Law and his wife are longtime supporters of Creighton.
The water fountain near the center along California mall includes tiles from a printing company previously located on this site.
Jaybucks and dining dollars are now being accepted at The Bird Feeder and the Brew Jay. Right now, meal exchange is not being accepted at either of these retail spaces.
The Bird Feeder is expecting to add even more to its selection of food and other items. Billy Blue’s Alumni Grill is not accepting dining dollars or meal exchange and Winegard said she is not sure how this will work out, since alcohol is sold.
The dedication
Creighton will dedicate the Harper Center and the new Venteicher Mall with a variety of events.
Bryan Berg, an expert card architect, will start things off at 8 a.m. with the scheduled finish of his replica of the Harper Center made out of cards. Berg, who is in the Guinness Book of World records for his card-stacking skills, has been working on his replica in the main entrance of the Harper Center since Sunday.
The celebration continues with the dedication of Venteicher Mall at 9:45 a.m. and the dedication of the Harper Center at 11 a.m. The rest of the day will contain Harper Center tours, a Getting Blue BBQ and end with the band Rhymes with Orange playing under the Harper Center portico.
“The building symbolizes Creighton’s promise to students, both current and future, that we will provide an excellent academic education combined with extraordinary opportunities for spiritual, physical and social growth,” said Schlegel in remarks prepared for the Harper Center dedication on Friday.