It is almost 2 p.m. in the afternoon and the first floor of the all-new Residence Hall seems to be more crowded than ever. Even though it is 95 degrees outside and the air is excessively humid, more and more people are entering the building. Faculty members, staff, and students are rushing in to hear Katherine Newman, the university’s Interim Chancellor, take the stand and start the long-awaited, official Residence Hall opening with the symbolic Ribbon Cutting Ceremony in the end.
“This is the moment we all have been waiting for,” said Diane D’Arrigo, Assistant Vice Chancellor, who has been a part of this project from the very beginning. She added, “It took us over a decade to plan and execute this project. It seems unreal to see the Residence Hall finally open its doors and welcome the new generation of students.”
The $137.4 million, 260,000-square-foot Residence Hall is the newest addition to the University of Massachusetts Boston’s campus complex. The West and the East Hall buildings will offer a total of 1,077 beds, consisting of single, double, triple, and quad combinations. With the assigned faculty members and fifty residence assistants, it opens an era of a 24/7 open campus, diluting the status of UMass Boston as a strictly commuter school. The new Residence Hall offers a number of meeting rooms, study pads, and common space areas, not just for the residents but for all other members of the university community, including the neighborhood.
At 2 p.m. exactly, Newman stands in front of the audience and opens the ceremony in a celebratory spirit. Her speech is full of gratitude and hope. “Indeed, our campus came to a degree of maturity and prominence, and I hope that it brings our community together, not apart, and the students who will occupy these beautiful rooms will feel at home, even if they are away from home.”
The President of the University of Massachusetts, Martin “Marty” Meehan, and the Mayor of Boston, Martin J. Walsh, also took part in the welcoming ceremony, offering the words of excitement and pride. “This has been the most challenging project we had to work on in all thirty years of our practice. It also has been the most rewarding project we worked on in those same thirty years. If you go up to the twelfth floor and look around, ask yourself a question. Would you live here? I would,” said Jeff Jones, one of the key construction development team leaders.
The cutting of the blue ribbon concluded the formal part of the ceremony. The function continued in the Dining Commons, a 500-seat venue that is an integral part of the Residence Hall. Sodexo, the food management company that offers its services on campus, took part in designing the dining hall. The Dining Commons will be open to every member of the community, not just the residents of the dormitory. It is designed to be an all-you-care-to-eat buffet style dining and will host seven unique food stations that suit everyone’s taste buds. Among those stations are MyZone and Simple Servings—stations that cater to guests with major allergies, celiac, and those who live a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle. Johanne Legrand, the executive chef for the Dining Commons, expressed her excitement for creating meals that guests will actually love. “I consider myself to be a creative chef. I am not afraid of a challenge. While crafting a sophisticated menu for 500 people can be intimidating for many chefs, it is actually an inspiration for me. I love a good challenge. I also love interacting with the guests and I look forward to being a part of the UMass Boston community.”
While the band was playing smooth jazz, the attendees were sampling the food prepared by Legrand and her culinary team. The number of the event attendees did not influence the complexity of the food. “The food is absolutely delicious,” said Deborah Federico, the Associate Director for Career Education, while trying out chicken satay served on a banana leaf with papaya slaw, “I look forward to seeing what other sophisticated food creation the chef will come up with soon.” Other food choices included grilled skirt steak with herb salad and watermelon radish, deconstructed caprese pasta with orecchiette, and Moroccan Lamb chops with red harissa served with a couscous, among other light appetizers. The dessert and beverage options did not disappoint either: strawberry shortcake and German chocolate cupcakes were the crowd’s favorites as they had “poof” disappeared during the first few hours of the luncheon.
Indeed, UMass Boston went through a series of ups and downs with the ongoing construction projects and internal instability. The opening of the Residence Halls emphasizes the sense of the upcoming stability and peace, a sense of a new community that is able to elevate the campus, and not just in an actual sense of the word, but in a sense of its maturity and greatness.