STEMulating Progress: Sawdust

Story by Christine Broussard

Issue: Fall 2016

Progress takes time, and after seven years and three legislative sessions since SFA first made its appeal to the state, the university is moving forward with plans to build a state-of-the-art, four-story building that will support science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines.

Three campus residential facilities are in the process of being razed to make way for the new Ed and Gwen Cole STEM Building after the 84th Texas Legislature granted SFA approximately $46.4 million in tuition revenue bond funding in 2015. Ed and his wife, the late Gwen Cole, have supported a number of SFA endeavors, including the Cole Art Center, Cole Concert Hall and the Ed and Gwen Cole Student Success Center.

And, though the residential facilities will no longer physically be part of SFA’s campus, Lumberjacks will continue to hold special memories of the facilities.

“Although I am sad to see the removal of these residence halls that hold so many happy memories for so many alumni, I am excited about SFA’s future and the progress we are making in recruiting and graduating Lumberjacks who will have careers in STEM-related disciplines,” said D’nese Haddox, associate director of SFA’s Residence Life Department.

Haddox has worked in the department for more than 32 years. She attended SFA from 1980 to 1984 and lived in Steen Hall as a student. She was then hired by the department as a hall director for Hall 10 and Griffith Hall from 1987 to 1989.

The residential facilities

As part of the university’s 2020 master plan, the Board of Regents approved the demolition of Gibbs Hall, Todd Hall and University Woods in preparation for construction of the new STEM building and relocation of the Residence Life Operations headquarters.

According to a historical summary of each building researched and provided by Haddox, Gibbs Hall was an all-female dormitory constructed in 1938 with a 140-bed capacity.

Talk of a dormitory for women dated back to 1927, according to the summary. A hopeful article about the funding for the new women’s project appeared in the newspaper in July 1936 at the time the Board of Regents authorized $225,000 for its construction.

The first floor was to include a kitchen, dining room, library, reception room, writing room, parlor, music room, offices and storage rooms. While every effort was made to make the building as economical for students as possible, SFA President Alton Birdwell said the rooms were to be nicely furnished and have a window on an outside wall.

Upon completion, Gibbs Hall quickly became a meeting location for receptions and events that “required food and ambiance,” the summary states. It was named in honor of Eleanor H. Gibbs, former art faculty member and department head.

“Gibbs Hall was so cool. It was a step-back-in-time type of place with wooden floors and old-fashioned doors,” SFA alumna Dawn Wallace ’95 said in response to a post on the university’s Facebook page asking for alumni memories. “I was one of the last residents there before we all moved to Hall 20. I remember I had the front corner room on the third floor in front of a tall pine. Every semester, I would watch a family of squirrels grow up. What memories!”

Two different buildings were named Todd Hall. The first was an all-male dormitory constructed in 1953 and built under the stands of Memorial Stadium. The second facility, which is the Todd Hall being razed, was built in 1962 as an all-female hall. It was later converted to an all-male facility and then back to all-female in 1986.

“I will always remember being so nervous about moving to a city where I knew absolutely no one and how living in Todd helped me make lifelong friends through fellow residents and the Residence Hall Association as a whole,” Stephanie Maybee ’12 said on Facebook.

University Woods was built on University Drive across from the Johnson Coliseum in 1980 as a coed, apartment-style facility. The building is being demolished to make way for the construction of a new facility that will house the Residence Life Operations headquarters, which was formerly located in Gibbs Hall.

“I was the apartment manager for University Woods in 2000-01. I loved the secluded feeling of being out there, yet still being on campus,” Corrinne Skelton ’01 said on Facebook. “I also was in the interior design class that used Gibbs Hall as a remodeling project. Change is good, but also sad for those of us who have so many good memories of these places.”

‘Priority one for SFA’

In response to a national call for reform in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education, SFA began years ago to implement activities, courses and public outreach initiatives that would enrich STEM-related interests. That same push for STEM reform was later incorporated into the SFA 2020 campus master plan.

“Results from the most recent external assessment of campus needs conducted by Perkins & Will Architects identified the STEM building as priority one for SFA as we seek to expand our efforts in the recruitment and retention of STEM majors,” said Dr. Kimberly Childs, dean of the SFA College of Sciences and Mathematics. “The STEM building will provide space to support the overall teaching, research and outreach mission of the College of Sciences and Mathematics.”

STEM building

Located across the street from the existing science facility, the new STEM building will house the Department of Physics and Astronomy, the Department of Computer Science, a new SFA planetarium with a 52-foot dome, and makerspaces, which are areas that allow students to collaborate and create prototypes or other manufactured works. The facility also will feature a machine shop, research laboratories, multipurpose labs, computer labs, collaborative classrooms and a terrace equipped with telescopes.

“The case we made to the Texas Legislature is that, first and foremost, SFA is engaged in the call for reform in STEM education. As a result, the College of Sciences and Mathematics is growing,” Childs said. “We’ve added an engineering program, and we will be adding programs in other areas that are viable options for us as a university. Knowing that we were growing and that we were beginning to venture out into other areas, we realized that the capabilities we have on campus are limited.”

During the past several years, the College of Sciences and Mathematics has experienced growth in several areas. Offering the only geology program in the upper northeast quartile of Texas, the college recently added a four-year engineering physics degree to its baccalaureate offerings and acquired the Department of Computer Science from the Rusche College of Business.

“The current Miller Science Building is crowded and underequipped to meet the needs of the College of Sciences and Mathematics. With classrooms and labs built for students 50 years ago, we are challenged to provide 21st-century instruction in this outdated environment,” Childs said. “After renovations of the chemistry labs were completed, we realized how critical updated facilities are to the advancement of STEM education. However, renovation is often more costly than new construction. Therefore, we requested support from the state Legislature for a much-needed STEM facility.

“We will have updated, state-of-the-art labs that support STEM teaching and research. From discipline-specific labs such as those for thermodynamics and cybersecurity to multipurpose labs that can convert from physics to biology, we are designing labs to meet student needs. The College of Sciences and Mathematics is taking the next step into the future.”

A building inspired by innovation and collaboration is what Childs and other administrators envisioned for the new structure.

“As we strive to provide transformative experiences for our students, we encourage them to take ownership in their education,” Childs said. “This current era in higher education introduces a heightened emphasis on student learning and technologically enhanced pedagogy, encouraging students to be actively engaged in their learning experiences.

“Between makerspaces, huddle spaces, collaborative classrooms, computer/cybersecurity labs and multipurpose labs, we believe this building will give students that experience. Other campus buildings must be razed in the process, but there’s new life here, and it meets the needs of the 21st century.”

Construction of the new STEM building is projected to be complete in August 2018.

Thoughts from STEM majors

Cade Archer / Computer science junior: “I’m very hopeful about the new building because it shows SFA understands the unique importance STEM majors will play in the future.”
Ian Campbell / Information technology senior: “I feel that SFA, at last, will have a great STEM building to match its great STEM program. I’m excited because it will help SFA to develop further — a great way to start SFA’s second century.”
Stephen Janovsky / Mathematics sophomore: “With more classrooms and places to work for STEM students and faculty members, SFA will be able to continue strengthening its STEM departments that are becoming more and more relevant in today’s job market.”
Whitney Singleton / Biology junior: “What is truly exciting about SFA’s new STEM building is the opportunity to demonstrate to future students what our campus offers in these fields. Through new and improved facilities, SFA can provide a deeper, more modern take on the STEM fields — and stimulate public interests in STEM and in the university in general.”
Kylie Smelley / Biology freshman: “I am very excited about the wonderful opportunities that the building will provide for all STEM majors, as well as the growth of the STEM program that this building will help provide.”

Remembering Gibbs Hall

Anita Beam: “There were huge Chippendale wing chairs in orange velvet upholstery. And they were SO big, someone could be sitting in one, and, from the back, you couldn’t even see him/her. Our dorm mother was Nina McCarty or Mrs. Mac. The movie I remember crowding into the TV room to watch was Brian’s Song starring James Caan and Billy Dee Williams. Barely a dry eye in the place.”
Lea Clark: “I lived in Gibbs Hall, and my future husband lived next door in Todd Hall. We played four square in the parking lot between the two dorms.”
Julie Rice: “I loved the wooden floors and the wonderful feel of the rooms. A big group gathered in the great room and watched the last M*A*S*H show.”
Becky Robins: “My high school ring was lost in the sink in 1965. It was found in the sewer system across the street in 2003. I became a national celebrity! My picture was in all the newspapers, and I was on The Today Show.”

Dr. Thomas Franks on Gibbs Hall

“Goodbye, Gibbs Hall, and thanks for the memories.” These have been my recurring thoughts as I drive by that historic girl’s dormitory since the announcement it is being demolished to make room for SFA’s new science, technology, engineering and mathematics building.

I was one of a crew of male college students who served breakfast cafeteria-style and lunch and dinner family-style to Gibbs Hall residents. Though I served meals for the last time in August 1951 when I graduated from SFA, the memories of the people and events associated with those three years are fresh. Friendships and contacts with several fellow waiters are ongoing, and I am grateful. Also, I occasionally see former residents of Gibbs Hall who were there during our service as waiters.

I share the affection many have for the building because of the pleasant memories associated with working there. I will admit feeling some sadness with its demolition. But, I also feel joy as I anticipate the rise of a building in its place that will house much-needed academic programs for future students.

My service on the SFA faculty from September 1963 to August 2000 enables me to recognize such a need. My status as an alumnus of SFA and as the father of four children and two grandchildren who have earned degrees at SFA (plus one grandchild currently enrolled), add to my understanding of the need. One of my sons and two of my grandsons went elsewhere to earn degrees in engineering. The building that will occupy the Gibbs Hall space will house SFA’s new four-year engineering program.

Gibbs Hall’s lifespan served thousands of SFA students well. It will survive in the memories of all those who benefited from its presence as a storied part of the rich history of SFA.

Dr. Thomas Franks ’51
Former Dean, College of Education

Remembering Todd Hall

Brent Acuff: “Loved that place and was part of the reason I loved going to SFA. I remember walking past the Stone Fort every day to and from classes.”
Terry Huckaby: “Many bizarre things occurred there but lots of friendships made. Every day after lunch, we piled into the lobby and watched the soaps: General Hospital, All My Children and One Life to Live, then off to football practice.”
Maggie Morgan: “Todd Hall was such a blast! So many nights watching Glee in that common room.”

Remembering University Woods

Mia Brown: “I loved University Woods! My porch had the best woods view and was very peaceful. The ROTC students would wake us up at 6 a.m. on weekends during their maneuvers, and everyone would grumble about it. During Hurricane Ike, we lost electricity immediately and didn’t get it back for a week. It was scary listening to the trees fall around us. I couldn’t believe trees didn’t fall on at least one of the buildings.”
Kaylee Carson: “There was something magical about being able to live among the trees and the trails.”
Jacob Lusk: “The wasps outside University Woods held me hostage in my unit on a daily basis.”