The eleven women and men- a few sporting ill-fitting, white hard hats- stared briefly at the mound of dirt before them, then happily stabbed their shovels into the dark-brown earth. As they flung the soil to one side, the admiring crowd cheered. Construction of the new Carnival Cruise Lines Science & Technology Building had officially begun.
Though groundbreaking ceremonies are often stodgy affairs, the one Carnival Cruise Lines President, Bob Dickinson, Ryder Systems Inc. CEO & President, Gregory Swienton, Miami Gardens Mayor and STU Alumni, Shirley Gibson, former Congresswoman Carrie P. Meek, former Miami-Dade Mayor and Senior Fellow at STU, Alex Penelas, and President of St. Thomas University, Rev. Monsignor Franklyn Casale participated in has special significance, not only for the St. Thomas University campus, but for Florida and the world as well.
Participating at groundbreaking ceremonies of the new Carnival Cruise Lines Science & Technology Building at the St. Thomas University campus are Carnival Cruise Lines President Bob Dickinson and Rev. Monsignor Franklyn Casale.
“November 12th will be an important day on the St. Thomas University campus and in Miami-Dade County and the region. With the groundbreaking ceremony for the Carnival Cruise Lines Science & Technology Building, the university will initiate a new era putting emphasis on the sciences and technology among diverse student populations,” STU President Rev. Monsignor Casale said. Casale also pointed out that the new Science & Technology Building will “significantly increase the quantity and quality of science faculty and students that will be attracted to the university.”
The $6-million, 2-story, 32,000-square-foot facility will be home to a new brand of cutting-edge interdisciplinary research. Here, scientists and students in biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, engineering and other disciplines will work side by side to solve some of humanity’s most vexing health issues. When completed in 2006, the new facility will house all of the university’s science and communications departments. The building featuring up-to-date laboratories for biological science as well as chemistry, physics, and computer science as well as a media technology theater and studio, and roof-top observatory.
The building and the work that goes on inside will also establish St. Thomas University’s spot on South Florida as well as the nation’s academic map for educating diverse students in the sciences, said Dr. Gregory Chan, Vice President for Academic Affairs. “Out of this building will come new ideas, new industries, and much-needed medical cures,” he concluded.
Target date for completion of the project is the Fall 2006 Semester with the first use of the building for students and faculty coming in the Spring 2007 semester.
