Coeur de Catherine, St. Joseph's Hall and the Library
St. Joseph's Hall stopped where the atrium's start, right next to the Info Desk today, when Deb first started here the top floor was a residence hall for students and sisters. This was a coveted space since students could come down to breakfast in their pajamas, the third floor was home to classrooms for the Family and Consumer Sciences Department. Today the Student Center Activities and Residence Life both have large offices, then they had two small offices and a corridor. St. Joseph's Hall functioned as a mixture of many different spaces, as such it could not function as a student center. The space was divided and shared among so many people that it could serve no one well.
One of the biggest missing pieces was a Student Org Center, this severely impacted clubs and other student groups. A club existed in a students backpack, and once they graduated all of the club materials and records would leave with the students forcing the club to start over. Some clubs were lucky and left a few things with advisors or Deb. At this time Residence Life and Student Center Activities were divided into two separate buildings and yet unified as a single department, Residence Life was in the basement of Derham Hall and the SCA was in St. Joseph's Hall. This division provided a push for a building that would be designed around the needs of students and facilities that would better serve the departments that work with students. The stories of the short comings of St. Joseph's Hall and the library grew and spread; the building was designed, money collected and input gathered. Deb Miner worked with Curt Galloway in the design of the building, together they gathered student input in their design. Deb mentioned that amazingly student input matched their design, the issues they saw were confirmed by the response of students and the community. The spaces we enjoy were carefully created by Deb and many others. The chairs in the Student Org Center today were carefully picked by Deb, she spoke of the careful balance of function and appearance. She took care to make sure that the chairs would be comfortable for students, in a discussion with a committee Deb remembers encouraging everyone to sit in the chairs like students would. Every choice was carefully planned and evaluated to make sure the CdC would function well for students and last for years.
The construction of the CdC began in 2001, opening ceremonies included a ceremony to close St. Joseph's Hall. From the next few years the entire university would make many sacrifices for the great space we have today. Deb remembers the mud that was tracked all over campus, the cramped spaces they worked in, limited options in "The Grill" and lack of french fries. The most profound sacrifice may have been the lack of space, events were held in the Butler Gym (this is before the current renovations) or the Chapel. Just days after St. Joseph's Hall was closed 9/11 shook the nation and the university, as a university we have a long history of coming together and reflecting after tragedy, and now there was no space to gather. The new space finally arrived in 2004, the entire community finally got to live in their new space. It was exactly what the university had needed and what had been waiting for; space to gather, collaborate, and socialize. The CdC remains as the center of the university; this is where we work, where we eat, where we celebrate, gather and study.
