The year 2013 proved to be one full of excitement for St. Edward’s University as the community saw new buildings introduced to enhance students’ learning experience.

As a result of a $13 million donation from the Munday family and over 10 months of construction in 2012-2013, the Munday Library opened in full operation. The opening and expansion of the library from the previous Scarborough-Phillips Library sees over 150 new computers introduced, a media services department, quiet study labs and rooms designed for group studying which include interactive electronic white boards.

“The study rooms have the right mix of technology. I use them for tutoring sessions and study groups,” student Damion Laverne said. “The building was worth the wait.”

Also available in the Munday library is free printing, including wireless printing from personal laptops, as well as access to scanning and copier facilities. One of its purposes is to bring together students and faculty from all disciplines for creative collaboration and to encourage digital and information literacy at St. Edward’s.

“The new library offers an excellent place for students to study and gather and work in groups. The building is heavily used and so are its resources, collections and services. It is the intellectual center of the campus,” Munday Library Director Pongracz Sennyey said.

With such impressive facilities, future students are taking the library into consideration when visiting St. Edward’s.

“I know that prospective students and parents do regularly visit the library on their tours. I would hope that seeing so many state of the art buildings, including the library, makes a positive impression on them,” Sennyey said.

In the same year, the School of Natural Sciences opened a $22 million science building to accompany one that previously opened in 2006. The John Brooks Williams Natural Sciences and Technology Center-South offers St. Edward’s student’s and faculty outstanding new facilities with its 50,000 square feet of academic space for science, computer science, mathematics and general education classes. The building also provides math tutor labs inside.

“The new science building’s main benefit to me is the new math tutoring lab. I worked in the old one last year and it was very cramped,” Laverne said. “The new one has more tables and a larger chalkboard for students to use. It also has computers so that students can do their homework online.”

Chemistry major Kelly Davis believes the benefits of the new science building has particularly impacted the science department for the better. Davis believes it is good for the math, physics and computer science majors and faculty to have a central building to go to, rather than having classes in different buildings as they did in previous years.

“The science department as a whole is continuing to grow and the new science building has definitely contributed massively to this. It’s a very nice building with awesome computer labs and even though we are a small liberal arts school, having a new science building and library will draw more people here,” Davis said.

Currently in progress is the renovation of the St. Edward’s University Alumni Gym which is reopening August 27. In 2011, the University Federal Credit Union contributed $1.7 million to the school for the revamp. Once complete, the building will be renamed the University Federal Credit Union Alumni Gym.

Though the gym is no longer used for athletic events on campus, it plays a major role in the school’s history and to the community, as well as still being used by the campus recreation program, cheerleading and dance teams.

@rianas92