Trustees honored at hall ceremony

Amanda Papke

Ribbons were cut and plaques were unveiled as the three men behind the names
of the new Towers were honored Thursday in front of Kulhavi Hall.

University President Michael Rao spoke to an audience of about 300 CMU
alumni and donors, including Board of Trustees members Jerry Campbell, Roger
Kesseler and John Kulhavi, for whom the halls were named.

Rao spoke of when the original Towers opened as early as 1969, and also
79 years ago when Ronan Hall opened as the first residence hall on campus.

This is not the same education building that many people know today as
Ronan Hall, he said. The original Ronan Hall housed 150 female students and
boasted a curfew and dress code.

“(The new residence halls are) well beyond the days of curfews and dress
codes,” Rao said. “They’re filled with amenities that make them ideal for
students of today.”

Rao said the new Towers include a modern fitness facility, a technical
support center and a new convenience. They also are the first residence hall
units on campus with air conditioning, he said.

“I think it’s important to mention we did not build Jacuzzis,” Rao said
jokingly. He said the new residence halls create a level of comfort conducive
to learning.

“These are among the finest in state-of-the-art residence halls you’ll find in the United States,” he said.

Rao thanked Roger and Phyllis Kesseler, who were the first to make a financial
contribution to toward the project; Kulhavi, who has continually supported
the university and served on CMU’s development board; and Jerry and Felica
Campbell.

“I applaud the dedication they’ve shown to help this university reach the national caliber that it has,” he said.

Board Chairwoman Melanie Reinhold Foster also applauded their efforts.

“The commitment and generosity of these three trustees is unprecedented
in this state,” she said. “And today we are now standing in what is now a
reality on campus.”

Each of the three being honored shared their feelings with the audience.

Campbell reminisced on his days as a CMU student working for 85 cents
an hour in the Bovee University Center and being in a fraternity with Kulhavi.

“It’s an awful great pleasure to give back to an institution that gave so well to me,” Campbell said.

He enjoyed being reunited with Kulhavi as a trustee, Campbell said, and
working alongside Kesseler, who graduated from CMU in 1958 — two years before
Campbell enrolled.

“I’ve never seen a trustee better than Roger Kesseler,”  Campbell said.

Kesseler recalled his first encounter with Rao, where the two met on an
elevator in New Orleans. Kesseler said they started talking and he mentioned
to Rao an opening in the president’s office.

“I spent the first 15 minutes trying to figure out who he was, and for the next hour and 15 minutes I was selling him,” he said.

Kesseler said he is honored to have a hall dedicated in his and his wife’s name while they are still living.

“We look at this as a family affair and I say this is unreal,” he said.
“I say this is unreal because we got up in the morning and read the obituaries
and we weren’t in them.”

Kulhavi commented on the common ties he and his fellow donors have — all
are CMU alumni, have entered the field of finance and have a strong devotion
to the university, he said.

By setting an example, he said he hopes other CMU students will continue to have that same devotion to the institution.

Residence Hall Assembly President Nick Marinello voiced a student’s perspective on the day.

When he came to CMU three years ago, Marinello said he called the Towers
by their names, then later “the other side of the tracks.”

“Now what I used to call ‘history in the making’ and a ‘a dirt ball,’
I now call home,” he said. “Every hall on campus has (its) own distinct personality
and I have no doubt in time these three halls will develop their own.”

Those in attendance said they enjoyed the dedication ceremony.

“We had a wonderful day, weather-wise, and wonderful attendance from the
community,” said John Fisher, associate vice president of residence and auxiliary
services. “This is a great culmination to a great project for the university.”