Sometimes, a vision is opaque, marking time just beyond the horizon. But with the right leadership, the clarity of that vision becomes compelling, even urgent.

So when COVID-19 shut down broad swaths of the world, Quinnipiac President Judy Olian and the Board of Trustees didn’t blink. 

They accepted the challenge. 

“Through these buildings, we are preparing our students for 21st-century careers, fostering community, connectedness and a sustainable environment,” Olian said on Quinnipiac’s South Quad.

“When we design spaces, we don’t design architectural monuments. We design spaces that prompt the learning and behaviors that advance not just our values, but our dreams and aspirations,” she said. “Together, these buildings will do just that — and so much more.”

With more than 200,000 square feet of new academic space set to officially open this August, the School of Business and The SITE join The Grove, a 417-bed residence hall that opened on the South Quad. 

Along with the nearby massively expanded Recreation and Wellness Center that debuted in January 2023, the four structures mark the first new standalone buildings on the Mount Carmel Campus since the early 1990s.

“These buildings didn’t just happen because somebody drew something on a napkin with their contours,” Olian said. “It happened through the collective imagination and work of so many.”

Olian credited the Board of Trustees for its courage and clarity to bring this vision to life.

“The foundation of everything here is our Board of Trustees. They were the seed,” Olian said. “They made a very gutsy move during COVID, not just to endorse the creation of the Recreation and Wellness Center — which everyone enjoys already — but also to support the expansive vision of this glorious South Quad.”

“They saw around corners even during those dark days of COVID, and they said, ‘Let's go for it. Let's do the whole thing together.’ That takes guts,” Olian said. “That takes seeing the future. So I want to express my deepest gratitude to our immensely supportive and totally wonderful board of trustees. We're very lucky.”

As part of her remarks, Olian announced that the atrium in the School of Business will be named the Brett M. Amendola Family Atrium after Board of Trustee member Brett Amendola ’91 in appreciation for his philanthropic efforts.

For Provost Deborah Liebowitz, the university’s chief academic officer, the School of Business and The SITE represent a commitment to transformative education and transformative excellence. 

“Our signature focus on interdisciplinary learning is built into The SITE as it will house the College of Arts & Sciences and it becomes our Mount Carmel hub for both our School of Health Sciences and our School of Nursing.”

The SITE will feature four technology and innovation spaces dedicated to augmented and virtual reality, gaming and computing; six state-of-the-art classrooms that foster collaboration; 15 new science teaching labs; and a 700-person capacity auditorium. 

The SITE will also include more than 30,000 square feet of research space for faculty scholarship and for faculty to bring students into laboratories and the learning process. On the top level of the building, there will be a greenhouse that will serve as another teaching laboratory. 

The School of Business is designed “to go beyond business as usual,” Liebowitz said. “It’s designed to be a magnetic space that will fuel interconnectivity.”

Much like The SITE, the School of Business will provide an environment designed for spontaneous connection and collaboration with a Business Innovation Hub to incubate, build and test new ideas; a financial technology center; a 175-person auditorium; and the M&T Bank Center for Women and Business and the M&T Bank Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.  

“I'm immensely proud of the South Quad design, which prioritizes connection among faculty and students and staff,” Liebowitz said. “Our vision was to create spaces that would foster academic conversation and community, to think about corridors not as spaces you walk through or common spaces you walk through, but as spaces that foster informal, impromptu gatherings.”

Chuck Saia, chairman of the Board of Trustees, was deeply grateful for everyone who worked collectively and collaboratively on these two buildings.

“I get the honor of speaking on behalf of the Board of Trustees, and I want to make sure I make that that point to you,” Saia told those in attendance. “I want to thank the team. We get a bird's eye view of this from the boardroom.”

And then, as he paused to collect himself and his thoughts, Saia looked straight at Olian.  

“What you've done is simply magnificent, Judy. This is courageous leadership, and you’re a courageous leader,” Saia told her. “You were courageous when you came to us ask to get these things done. It’s unbelievable to see the progress of what’s happened under your leadership.”

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, Saia announced that the courtyard between the two buildings will be named the “Judy D. Olian and Peter E. Liberti Courtyard.”

On a historic day at Quinnipiac, the gratitude was everywhere on the South Quad. 

Olian and Liebowitz also thanked Hamden Mayor Lauren Garrett; Sal Filardi, vice president of facilities and capital planning; Liz Bender, director of capital planning and construction; Vice President for Strategy and Community Relations and Chief of Staff Bethany Zemba; Chief Financial Officer Mark Varholak; Chief Information Officer Matt Romeo; the university’s deans and its faculty and staff. 

“Everything inside and around these buildings is a tribute to the collective actions and thoughtful planning of these groups,” Olian said. “Their commitment, creativity and extraordinary hard work to get us to this point today.” 

In Focus