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December 2004

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President announces new proposed site for law school, capital campaign goal $300 million
By Maureen McKew    

    In his annual report to the University Senate on Nov. 19, the Rev. Edmund J. Dobbin, O.S.A., University president, announced plans for a new building for the Villanova University School of Law and a multilevel parking facility to be constructed on the grounds adjacent to the Villanova Conference Center.

   “The law school is an integral part of the University and, in fact, has never been more fully aligned with the life and mission of Villanova,” Father Dobbin said. “This new location should easily enable us to continue to foster that relationship.”

    Garey Hall, which currently houses the law school, will be refurbished for use primarily by the College of Nursing. “The long overdue state-of-the-art facilities for the College of Nursing will enable them to continue the national excellence in nursing education for which they were just recently designated as a ‘Center of Excellence for Nursing Education,’ by the National League for Nursing, one of only three in the country so recognized,” the president stated. Decisions about the facilities are pending approval for the law school construction by Radnor Township.

    Father Dobbin also told the senate that on Dec. 9, the University’s capital campaign, Transforming Minds and Hearts: The Campaign for Villanova, would enter its public phase at a gala scheduled to take place in New York City in the Temple of Dendur at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The goal of the campaign, to be announced during the gala, is $300 million, to be raised during the next three years. Its purpose is to generate resources to enable the University to carry on its academic mission as stated in the academic plan, “Transforming Minds and Hearts.”

   “Typically capital campaigns are divided into a private phase and a public phase,” Father Dobbin explained. “The private phase is used to generate leadership gifts and to determine the feasibility of the ultimate targeted goal. As the result of our private phase thus far, the steering committee of our capital campaign has unanimously agreed upon the $300 million goal and recommended it to the Board of Trustees, which has approved it.” Referring to both the academic plan and the capital plan, Father Dobbin expressed confidence their goals would be met.

   The president also announced that the Board of Trustees has approved a donation of $2.5 million to a capital campaign currently being conducted by the Augustinian Province of St. Thomas of Villanova. He characterized the donation as an investment in the University’s longstanding and vital relationship with the Order and with the Augustinian tradition.  Funds from this campaign will support the current renovation of St. Thomas of Villanova Monastery and enhance its interface with the University.

   In a review of other achievements, Father Dobbin cited the introduction of Academics, a new periodical published by the Office of Academic Affairs, and the designation of Villanova as a leadership service center for the National Hispanic Institute, a Texas based organization which for the past 25 years has been dedicated to developing leadership in the U.S. Latino community. The leadership center is part of the Center for Multicultural Affairs, whose new leader, Dr. Terry Nance, is collaborating with the University Inclusiveness and Diversity Committee to develop a diversity blueprint for Villanova.