Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Kent State Breaks Ground on Business College’s Future Home

  • By Matt Jones
  • 03/16/22

Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, recently broke ground on a new facility for the Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship. The ceremony for Crawford Hall took place on Tuesday, March 8, with an attendance of more than 400 including university officials, students and alumni, donors and elected officials. Construction is scheduled for completion in 2024, according to a news release.

The building is named after Ambassador Edward F. Crawford and his family, who facilitated its construction with the largest single philanthropic gift in the university’s history. The university has raised more than $20 million from more than 120 donors to go toward the project.

Kent State University Crawford Hall groundbreaking
Kent State University officials and donors to the Crawford Hall project officially break ground for the new building.

“The university and our students will shine even brighter and touch more corners of the world with our research and our alumni thanks to Crawford Hall and the support of Ambassador Edward F. Crawford and his family,” said Kent State President Todd Diacon. “We are very thankful to each of the donors who chose to partner with us to see our vision for the future of business education become a reality at the Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship.”

The new facility will stand four stories and include active learning classrooms, a business analytics lab, an entrepreneurship lab, a behavioral research hub, sales and trading labs, a business theatre and a student success center. The new Crawford Hall will be one of the largest academic buildings on any of Kent State’s campuses, and it will offer 50% more square footage than the business school’s current space.

“My fellow students are bright, innovative and creative. Crawford Hall will contain all the necessary tools to develop our skills and become the students, businesspeople and entrepreneurs we strive to one day become,” said Kent State marketing student Juliana Buonaiuto at the groundbreaking ceremony. “I cannot wait to see what Crawford Hall holds for the student body and how it will foster the growth of such talented young minds.”

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • How a Portable Sink Helped an Art Classroom Run More Smoothly

    Classroom design decisions can have outsized effects on instructional time and safety at schools juggling mismatched infrastructure, strict budgets, and crowded schedules — particularly in the arts. Between spilled paint and dirty brushes, art classes run smoother with a sink in the studio. But many schools don’t have a sink in every art classroom.

  • NWEA Report Recommends K–12 Natural Disaster Recovery Strategies

    The Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA), a K–12 assessment and research organization, recently announced the release of a new playbook for schools and communities recovering from extreme weather events, according to a news release.

  • Chartwells Launches Campus Dining Evaluation Framework

    Contract food-service management provider Chartwells Higher Education recently announced the launch of BLUEPRINT, according to a news release. The evaluation framework was designed to provide a data-driven and customizable roadmap towards optimizing campus dining services and, by extension, the student experience.

  • Illinois State University Breaks Ground on College of Fine Arts Transformation

    Illinois State University in Normal, Ill., recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts transformation project, according to university news. The series of new constructions and renovations will upgrade spaces in Centennial East, the Center for the Visual Arts, and the Center for the Performing Arts, as well as replace the existing Centennial West facility with a new Commons Building.