Manhattan College to Formally Dedicate New Raymond W. Kelly ’63 Student Commons Building on Oct. 15
Riverdale, NY (PRWEB) October 08, 2014 -- On Wednesday, Oct. 15 at 10 a.m., Manhattan College will formally dedicate the Raymond W. Kelly ’63 Student Commons. The building is named for former NYPD police commissioner Ray Kelly, who graduated from Manhattan College in 1963, and is one of the College’s most renowned and respected alumni. In a joint venture between Edward I. Mills & Associates and Perkins Eastman Architects PC, it also is the College’s first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified building on campus.
"Witnessing the completion of this outstanding centerpiece on campus is a true honor for me,” Kelly said. “Manhattan College holds a special place in my life and I hope this will be a special place for all members of our community.”
The 70,000-square-foot building serves as the new crossroads of campus, linking the north and south parts of campus. A true community space, the Kelly Student Commons significantly enhances the College’s ability to integrate academics and student life programming, and provides space for fitness and wellness programming, dining, study, and cultural and community events.
“Manhattan College is proud to have this opportunity to acknowledge Raymond W. Kelly, a great New Yorker and great American whose legacy of service to city and country will be permanently honored in the name of this beautiful and important building,” said Brennan O’Donnell, president of Manhattan College. “The Kelly Commons is the jewel in the crown of many years of strategic planning, though which Manhattan has transformed itself into a majority-residential college drawing students from near and far. It would not have been possible without the unparalleled generosity of this community – led by former board chair Thomas O’Malley ’63, by Commons Campaign co-chairs Kenneth Rathgeber ’70, Eugene McGrath ’63 and Fred Salerno ’65, Development Committee Chair Michael Regan ’63.”
The student commons features include:
• The Center for Social Action and Service Learning: focuses on student volunteer and service-oriented activities with an aim to promote civility, nurture character and develop civic commitment in young people.
• The Multicultural Student Center: creates a home for the school’s diverse group of ethnic clubs while fostering awareness and understanding of differing cultural and social issues.
• The Wellness and Fitness Center: allows students to develop healthier lifestyles and establish lifelong habits of regular exercise and balanced nutrition.
• The Student Clubs/Organizations Headquarters: provides students with the opportunity to get involved in more than 60 groups ranging from Student Government, to the Economics and Finance Society, to Jazz Band.
As a LEED-certified building, the Kelly Commons boasts many green features, such as a green roof, regional materials and recycled content, enhanced commissioning, high-efficiency lighting design, occupancy-based lighting and HVAC, demand-based ventilation, variable speed refrigerant system, high-efficiency condensing boilers, installation of Brita hydration stations and low-flow bathroom fixtures. LEED is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings, and features a number of sustainable elements
The Kelly Commons also maintains an energy management system that will monitor the energy throughout the building. The energy will frequently be surveyed and analyzed to review progress and ways to continue to improve.
Media interested in attending, please contact Pete McHugh, director of communications at Manhattan College, by phone at (718) 862-7232 or email public_relations(at)manhattan(dot)edu.
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About Manhattan College:
Manhattan College is located at West 242nd Street near Broadway in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, one mile from the Westchester County line and accessible by MTA subway line No. 1. For directions to the campus, visit http://www.manhattan.edu.
Founded in 1853, Manhattan College is an independent, Lasallian Catholic, coeducational institution of higher learning offering more than 40 major programs of undergraduate study in the areas of arts, business, education and health, engineering and science, along with continuing and professional studies, and a graduate division. For more information about Manhattan College, visit http://www.manhattan.edu.
Pete McHugh, Manhattan College, +1 (718) 862-7232, [email protected]
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