Story by Kaela Rae Frailing, Reporter
Photo Courtesy of Kaela Rae Frailing

Aquinas College has been undergoing some major construction in the past few months. Our new chapel, Our Lady Seat of Wisdom, is almost complete and the expansions onto the Albertus Magnus Hall of Science are about to begin — the groundbreaking ceremony will be on Sept. 21 in concordance with Homecoming. There are incredible amounts of effort being put in behind the scenes to make these renovations happen.

Aquinas’ comprehensive campaign that began theses renovation efforts, coined “Contributing to More,”  began about four or five years ago in the college’s first ever campaign of its kind, with a goal of raising $58 million.  

Most campaigns of this magnitude begin more as a private conversation with friends of the college and later are released to the public, which is the phase the campaign is currently in, once a large basis of the money has been received. So far, the school has received $40 million in donations. According to a recent MLive article, 60% of these donations have been made through private donors.

President Quinn commented on the impact of these donations especially in reference to the construction of the new chapel, as the chapel is “a really important symbol of our values [as a Catholic college],” especially since this is the first building on campus that has been built specifically to serve its purpose as a chapel. Our Lady Seat of Wisdom will be up and running soon, with the dedication of the chapel on Oct. 7.

The expansion and renovation of Albertus Hall is another primary goal of the “Contributing to More” campaign. As the field of STEM continues to expand, Aquinas needs to update its facilities in order to maintain its track record of leading students into graduate programs.

The expansions will include new lab classrooms as well as new heating and mechanical systems to maintain the quality of the new and current labs within the building, ensuring a quality learning institution. In addition to expanding the building, the current areas of Albertus will also be renovated to receive the updated technology as well. President Quinn commented on how this will be a difficult task to complete while still allowing students to attend their normal classes, but that it is essential that the renovations occur.

Aside from the construction of the new chapel and the renovations on Albertus Hall, the comprehensive campaign aims to “[reinvigorate] our campus” by increasing beautification efforts as well as using the donations to increase the amount of scholarship opportunities for students.

President Quinn emphasized the need for “not just making Aquinas a more attractive place to be, but making sure an Aquinas education is accessible to everyone.” By making more scholarships available to prospective students, the college will be able to increase the amount of quality students that they bring into the classrooms that may have never had the opportunity otherwise.

If you, as a student, want to aid the “Contributing to More” campaign, President Quinn said that the “most compelling thing to donors is to see the effects that [their donations] have on students.”

If Aquinas has impacted your life in any way, contact the campaign’s foundation office and they will be able to connect you to possible donors and alumni that would love to sit and talk about the effect that their donations have had on the experience at Aquinas, encouraging them to continue lending their support to this school.

For more information on the campaign, visit https://www.aquinas.edu/campaign/ contributing-to-more.