Last week Harris-Stowe State University (HSSU) welcomed the return of the Anheuser-Busch School of Business to its main campus with a dedication ceremony.
Board members, corporate sponsors and community partners were joined by faculty, staff and students at the unveiling, held at the university’s Dr. Henry Givens Jr. Administration Building, 3026 Laclede Ave.
“We are confident that the space will continue to cultivate competitive leaders,” Constance G. Gully, interim-president at HSSU, told the crowd during her opening remarks.
With student access and cost savings as contributing factors, HSSU’s Board of Regents made the decision to relocate the business school from the university’s South Campus last summer. Gully said the university could no longer afford to invest in a leased facility at 5707 Wilson Ave., currently owned by the State of Missouri, that needs about $2 million in renovations.
Gully said, “We’re saving almost $300,000.”
The South Campus, located at Highway 44 and Hampton Avenue, opened in the fall of 2005 and was the university’s first satellite campus. At that time, Gully said, the university had less space on its main campus to accommodate the business school.
“We have a beautiful main campus that now, with all of the university’s recent expansion, can accommodate the needs of all of our students,” she said.
The business school is now housed on the third floor of the administration building in Suite 307. It was the former site of the university’s Center for Retention and Student Success, now the Academic Resource Center. With the completion of the $15 million Freeman Bosley Jr. Residence Hall and Dining Facility in 2011, the Academic Resource Center was relocated to the more spacious and newly renovated former dining hall space on the ground floor.
Gully said corporate sponsors and community partners – including the African American Business Leadership Council, which has contributed more than $350,000 since it was established in 2001 – are essential to the success of HSSU and its students.
She acknowledged more than a decade of academic and financial support from Anheuser-Busch, Inc., highlighting The Anheuser-Busch Foundation’s most recent $1 million scholarship contribution.
Margarita Flores, vice president of community affairs at Anheuser-Busch, Inc., said education is the best way for A-B to support the community “because it not only helps the individual, but entire communities.”
HSSU strives to provide its diverse student body with affordable access to higher education.
Flores said, “If it wasn’t for institutions like Harris-Stowe State University, people like me might not have had the opportunity to go to school, get a degree, have a position at Anheuser-Busch and be able to help institutions like Harris-Stowe.”
Gully, Flores and Christine A. Chadwick, a HSSU board member, unveiled the Anheuser-Busch logo, branding the suite’s windowpanes. Small groups of six guests were encouraged to tour the suite, led by business school students.
Amenities include a reception area, a board room for faculty and administrators, a multi-purpose computer lab and trade room, and a media lab. Also included are the offices of the dean and assistant dean, as well as all business faculty and staff members.
Gully spoke on behalf of Dr. Givens, who was unable to attend but offered his unwavering support.
Dr. Givens’ tenure as president of HSSU lasted 32 years, making him the longest-serving president of any university in Missouri. Under his leadership, the university increased its student population and expanded from one building with only one degree to seven buildings and 15 degrees.
With nearly 500 students, the school of business is the university’s largest program generating nearly 50 percent of the university’s graduates.
“We are excited to have the business students back at the Givens Campus,” Gully said, “and are looking forward to the presence of those students having a great impact on our freshman scholars.”
