University Commons from Above
This August the new front door to Millikin University's campus, the University Commons, will open. The $27 million University Commons blends together the Staley Library and student center functions into one central location, reconfiguring the existing library and infusing access throughout the 87,000 square-foot building.
A space for research, innovation, and application, the University Commons will encourage collaborative learning and achievement. It will be home to several Millikin departments, including the Staley Library, Office of Student Development, Office of Inclusion & Student Engagement, WJMU Radio Station and the Oberhelman Center for Leadership Education.
See an aerial view of the University Commons by clicking on the video below.
"It's right in the middle of the campus, and it will be our new main center of life–our main street, our commons, including classrooms, a library, banquet hall and dining hall," said Millikin President Dr. Patrick White. "It will be an amazing building. We thought about ways in which we could bring a true center to the campus, bringing together the intellectual and academic side of things with the student development offices, as we emphasize Performance Learning inside and outside the classroom."
With the exception of Shilling Hall, an original Millikin structure erected in 1902, the new University Commons is the largest building project in university history in terms of square footage.
The Caterpillar Foundation and Caterpillar Inc. Chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman, a 1975 Millikin graduate, and his wife, Diane, provided support to create the new Commons. Their contributions will help fund three areas: The new University Commons and the Oberhelman Center for Leadership Performance; a new Center for International Education which is also included in the Commons; and the Long-Vanderburg Scholars program which supports scholarships and programming for minority students.
The Oberhelman Center for Leadership Performance will provide emerging and seasoned student leaders the opportunity to share resources and develop practical leadership skills in management, marketing and technical areas in a synergistic space featuring student organizations, student collaboration, and laboratory incubators.
Other funding for the Commons was achieved primarily through donor gifts, though the university also secured a bond of $8 million to provide additional funding. Among the other numerous generous donors to the project are three families who each made seven-figure commitments to fund construction of the new University Commons: MU Trustee Debi Breeding Johnston '89 and her husband, Bob; the late Robert Moorehead '46 and his wife, Charlotte Beesley Moorehead '47; and David J. Rathje '58 and his wife, Debbie.
"The University Commons is a building that will transform Millikin University as it becomes the focus of so much learning and conversation for students, faculty, staff, alumni, and Millikin supporters and friends in the community," said President White. "The Commons will be our gathering place, the main street of our lives together, as our students grow as leaders and democratic citizens in a global environment."
For more information about the University Commons, visit millikin.edu/uc.