Source: Virginia Moxley, 785-532-5500, moxley@k-state.edu
Website: http://www.k-state.edu/media/mediaguide/bios/moxleybio.html
Photos available: http://www.k-state.edu/media/images/aug12/justinexterior.jpg
and http://www.k-state.edu/media/images/aug12/justininterior.jpg
Photo cutlines: The exterior of the new Justin Hall expansion, and a look at one of the new advanced classrooms made possible by the expansion.
News release prepared by: Jane Marshall, 785-532-1519, jpm2@k-state.edu
Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2012
Room to grow: College of Human Ecology dedication ceremony Sept. 7 for Justin Hall expansion
MANHATTAN -- When Virginia Moxley became dean of Kansas State University's College of Human Ecology in 2006, one of her first decisions was to enlarge Justin Hall to accommodate the growing teaching and research mission of the college.
The Justin Hall expansion dedication ceremony will be 2 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7, on the building's front lawn.
"The Justin Hall addition is a tribute to the generosity of alumni and friends who made this possible," Moxley said of the $5 million expansion project.
In 1959, when Kansas State College became Kansas State University, the School of Home Economics moved into Justin Hall, a new 102,004 square foot, $2.15 million advanced building named for Dean Margaret Justin.
The school is now the College of Human Ecology. The Justin Hall expansion helps accommodate a student enrollment that has more than quadrupled since 1960, along with the college's nearly 100 faculty and staff members and its deepening research with funding at more than $20 million a year.
"Expansion had been in the conversation for at least 10 years," Moxley said. "When Justin Hall was dedicated in 1960, the School of Home Economics had nearly 600 students. Today we have about 2,500 students."
Groundbreaking ceremonies for the expansion were Oct. 8, 2010. The building and landscaping were finished in August 2012, with students using the new classrooms and study areas for the first time on Aug. 20, the first day of the fall 2012 semester.
Speakers at the dedication will be Moxley; Kirk Schulz, university president; April Mason, provost; Carolyn Jackson, president of the Human Ecology Alumni Advisory Board; Kent Bradley, chair of the K-State Alumni Association's board of directors and former alumni fellow and Public Policy Award winner in Human Ecology; Petros Levis, immediate past chair of the Human Ecology Alumni Association Board and a past alumni fellow; and Lauren Koepp, president of the Student Human Ecology Council.
Following the ribbon-cutting ceremony the building will be open for tours. All activities are free and open to the public.
