NOW OPEN — Franciscan University of Steubenville officials and students cut a ribbon Wednesday to celebrate the opening of the school’s new Christ the Teacher Academic Hall. For more photos from the event, visit our website, heraldstaronline.com. — Christopher Dacanay
STEUBENVILLE – Franciscan University of Steubenville celebrated the fruits of its capital-raising campaign Wednesday: the completion of a new academic hall and conference center that will open this fall.
Voices of thanks, a blessing and a ribbon cutting marked the opening of Franciscan University’s $59 million Christ the Teacher Academic Hall and Pope St. Paul VI Multipurpose Conference Center. The 10,000-square-foot building is Franciscan University’s first new academic hall on campus in over 20 years and will house the university’s schools of nursing, business, engineering and computer science.
The building — which includes a multi-level lecture hall, nursing skills labs, specialized engineering labs, a chapel, community learning spaces, an outdoor plaza and a cafe — was funded by the Franciscans’ “Rebuild My Church” capital campaign, which launched with a goal of $75 million in 2021, the university’s 75th anniversary. Donors exceeded that goal within six months, prompting two additional increases to the current goal of $110 million.
Bob Hickey, Franciscan’s vice president of advancement, called the building’s opening a “momentous day” for the university that seemed “impossibly far away” in 2021.
“But here we are,” Hickey said, “ready to celebrate the grand opening of Christ the Teacher Hall and the Pope St. Paul VI Conference Center and allow these beautiful facilities to fulfill their purpose in our educational mission.”
“We could not have reached this milestone without the help of many Franciscan University family members, benefactors, alumni, trustees, monks, faculty, staff, and our President (Reverend Dave Pivonka, TOR). Together, you made this day possible through your courage, loyal support, and generosity, for which I and my team are deeply grateful.”
Capital campaign chairman Mickey Pohl mentioned his initial reluctance to join the campaign when Pivonka first approached him as a lawyer preparing for retirement. But as Jesus and his band of 12 friends prove, “God chooses the unlikely to do the nearly impossible, but when you trust the Holy Spirit, … good things just seem to happen, and that’s what’s happening in Steubenville, and this is just the latest milestone along the way.”
The university has “just begun” to flourish, said Pohl, recalling that previous fundraising goals had already been exceeded.
“We don’t want to just talk about survival anymore. … We want a 200-year (time frame) where (Franciscan) is recognized worldwide as one of the brightest lights in the world of Catholic education,” Pohl said, adding that people he has spoken to abroad recognize the university.
Pohl thanked everyone who made the building project possible, including students, who he said set a great example and deeply impressed the visitors. He also thanked donors large and small, as well as his wife, who encouraged him to volunteer as campaign manager.
Christin Jungers, dean of the School of Professional Programs, recalled how precious academic space was around 2019, when Pivonka, a university graduate, became president of Franciscan. It was Pivonka, she said, who took action to improve students’ campus experience.
Jungers thanked donors for their generosity in making the building project possible, an undertaking that caused inconvenience on campus but ultimately strengthened the university community’s faith in God.
In addition, Jungers read statements from the chairs of the nursing, business and engineering departments, who spoke about the new opportunities they believe the new Academic Hall will bring.
Pivonka pointed out that Christ the Teacher itself is a “testimony of faith and reason” because of its two-wing design and dual function as an academic institution and conference center.
The building’s name, Pivonka said, comes from the most common title for Jesus in the Bible and complements the name of the university’s main worship space, Christ the King Chapel, which is currently being renovated as part of the capital campaign. The conference center is named after Pope Paul VI, who wrote several influential papal encyclicals and presided over part of the Second Vatican Council.
Pivonka said he was grateful for the donations that made construction possible, adding that the capital raising campaign has once again exceeded its fundraising goal, raising $110.4 million so far.
Before the ribbon cutting, Pivonka prayed over the building and sprinkled it with blessed water. Those in attendance were then invited to take tours of the interior.
Entering the building through the west doors, one is greeted by a large icon of Christ the Teacher, painted by university graduate Amber Knorr. Nearby is an interactive donor recognition panel. In the hall itself is the main staircase, next to which hangs a portrait of the Holy Spirit, also by Knorr.
Throughout the three-story building, there are 12 new classrooms, 14 engineering and nursing labs, 37 teaching offices, two shared office spaces, several administrative offices, 34 admissions and enrollment offices, several meeting rooms, and numerous study spaces.
The first floor houses the Business Department, the Center for Leadership, and the Well Café. Also on the first floor is the Sacred Heart of Jesus Chapel, which is open to students, faculty, and staff for prayer and occasional Eucharistic worship. The chapel will house a reliquary containing the sacred relics of saints representing the building’s three academic departments.
The ground floor of Christ the Teacher not only houses all of the university’s admissions and enrollment services, but also the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science, as well as a full kitchen for the café and other catering needs.
The nursing department is located on the second floor and is equipped with a total of nine simulation beds spread across four laboratories. Students can practice on training manikins that represent different genders or stages of life and can embody different illnesses.
The Pope St. Paul VI Conference Room can accommodate up to 500 people for presentations and 325 people for banquets. The room can be divided into five smaller rooms and is used for academic and religious conferences, musical events and other occasions.
Several items still need to be completed, including a decorative quote from Pope Paul VI to be placed in the conference room and an outdoor fountain.
Construction of Christ the Teacher took more than 515 days, involving several hundred workers. In total, more than 50 contractors and suppliers were involved in the project, and construction was managed by Rycon Construction of Pittsburgh.
