By Dylan Smith
Staff Writer ’14
It was a chilly Wednesday afternoon, October 26th, 2011, when alumni, students, faculty, members of the Jersey City community, local politicians and political heads gathered in the future site of The Mac Mahon Student Center to celebrate the official groundbreaking of what will be a huge landmark in Saint Peter’s College.
PHOTO BY MICHAEL PASION
At the event, President Eugene J. Cornacchia, Campaign Chairman Thomas P. Mac Mahon ’68, Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy, different alumni, and even students like SGA president Venny Jean Turner spoke on what the Mac Mahon Student Center meant to them.
“Saint Peter’s College, honestly, is my home away from home,” said Venny Jean, who spoke on being from Hawaii yet feeling completely embraced and a part of the Jersey City and Saint Peter’s College communities. “So many students have come up to me and told me about how excited they are about the student center.”
Turner also mentioned before her speech that there was attendance expectancy for over a hundred and fifty people to show up to the groundbreaking.
The event was an exciting one, according to Jan Reimer, the head of Student Activities, who expressed her joy for many of the clubs and organizations will be able to have their own rooms and spaces to do their activities within the center.
Matthew Calvert, who works with SPC’s First Year Experience, also felt it was exciting and a great way to bring the student body together.
From the moment of walking into the site, students like Darshani Basit and others helped greet alumni of the school, while also encouraging them to sign a beam that would later be used in the construction of the student center. The beam was for anyone who wanted to sign it and represents the community, according to Basit.
“I’m really happy, and, hopefully, even though I’m graduating, I can still reap the benefitsfromthe[MacMahon] Student Center,” added Basit.
Other students who may possibly graduate before the center’s expected to be finished in the spring of 2013, like Damaris Medina, who helped in Father Hess’ blessing of the grounds, felt positive and just as excited about the construction.
“I’m excited that they’re finally going to start building [the student center],” stated Medina. “It’s an exciting process to be a part of.” Dr. Cornacchia announced that the official name of the center would be The Mac Mahon Student Center who donated $7.5 million, a gift that is the largest in Saint Peter’s College history.
The mayor of Jersey City, Mayor Healy, came out to speak in honor of this event. Mayor Healy hopes the creation of the center will rejuvenate and bring new life to the area of Jersey City hopefully turning it into a very college- oriented area. He noted that with Hudson County Community College and New Jersey City University being so close, the Mac Mahon Student Center would only increase this mentality of the area being a place for education and growth.
“This groundbreaking represents a major turning point in the college’s history,” Dr.Cornacchia stated to the Pauw Wow. “[The Mac Mahon Student Center is] our first major facility in probably three decades, possibly four decades, and what I really think it’s going to do is enhance student life.”
He also confirmed that with the moving of Student Activities, Campus Ministry, Sodexo Food Services, and other groups to the student center, the remaining spaces now in Dinneen Hall, McDermott Hall, Saint Peter’s Hall and others facilities will most likely be used for academic space, but nothing has been set in stone yet.
Campaign Chairman Thomas P. Mac Mahon also spoke during the event, referencing his own experience and his fondest memories. “As I traveled the United States, and I went outside the United States, I would tell them where Jersey City was, and that Jersey City was in the greatest metropolitan area in the entire world,” said Mac Mahon.
Mac Mahon also proclaimed his love for the school, calling it the best school in the world. Hesaid,“ThebestmomentsI’ve had in my life were built on the streetsofJerseyCity,hereonthe corner of Kennedy Boulevard and Montgomery.”
Light refreshments, coffee, and cake were served at the closing event, while speakers, including President Cornacchia, posed with shovels for pictures.
