Dozens of current and former students gathered September 18 at Niemeyer Learning and Living Center to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the building.
When the building was built, it was unique in the respect that it combined living space for students with classroom space in the same facility, a design that hadn't been used before.
Since its construction, the concept has been repeated in several new living spaces across campus, as living and learning communities have been shown to have positive outcomes for students and faculty.
"This is a chance to reflect on trying new things, and this new thing has worked very, very well," said Roger Gilles, director of the Frederik Meijer Honors College.
Gilles was joined by former provost and building namesake Glenn Niemeyer, along with Provost Maria Cimitile, President Tom Haas, and a number of current and former administrators central to the effort to get the Niemeyer building opened in 2008.
"There has always been a real spirit of experimentation at Grand Valley, and this experiment in living and learning has been exceptionally beneficial to our students and our Honors program," Gilles said. "I think it's really important that this community is about merging the academic and the social, and showing that it's really fun to learn here."
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