A public program Friday (Sept. 18) on campus marked the grand opening of the new residential college. The event included a ribbon-cutting ceremony and reception.
The new state-of-the-art academic community has been bustling with activity since some 465 undergraduates moved there in time for the fall semester’s opening day of classes Aug. 24.
Living at the college and interacting with the students are O’Sullivan, associate professor of French, and his family: wife, Patricia, and their children, Marion, 11, and Colm, 10. Patricia is an instructor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion.
The living environment is intended to nurture and broaden the scope of learning. The three-story building features a dining hall, fitness center, library, computer center, music practice room and study rooms. Six types of room layouts for students are available, ranging from a standard double suite to a corner suite of four single rooms. Freshmen are assigned to doubles, and each suite has its own bathroom.
Besides the O’Sullivans, some 30 other faculty members, chosen as faculty fellows, are to be closely involved with the student residents. As senior fellow, O’Sullivan is the college’s main coordinator, in charge of scheduling activities, providing leadership for the students and organizing the faculty fellows.
A second residential college, similar in design to the first and named in honor of the Luckyday Foundation, is slated to open next fall near the first one.