How Far Will $6 Million Go?

By The Tower Staff

The announcement of a large donation and new or renovated building on campus is becoming the new norm here at CUA. The new business school in Maloney Hall, now the Tim & Steph Busch School of Business and Economics, and Murphy’s Bar & Grill in the Pryz are two of the most notable. This week, almost right on schedule, the University announced the latest improvement coming to campus: a new dining hall. We won’t even get into the argument that this money could have been used for a thousand better projects on campus because, truth be told, it’s not even up to the University where this money goes. It’s the donors’ prerogative where they want their gift to be allocated. However, the news has sparked many questions among students, including the chosen location, the future of current buildings, and if the food will also get a $6 million upgrade. In the released digital renderings, it appears that the new dining hall will be right next to the current dining hall. This begs the question: what will become of our beloved “upper” and “lower” Pryz? Early speculation suggests that the Pryz may transform into more of a student union building with additional office and event space. After all, what would be the purpose of having two dining halls practically touching each other? If the Pryz is to remain a dining facility, then the new dining hall should be built closer to the residential neighborhoods so students do not have to walk across campus just to get a box of fries and an ice cream cone (when the machine actually works). While it may be exciting to have additional buildings on the university’s campus, certain logistical issues should be taken into consideration. The new dining facility appears to be taking the place of one of the Centennial Village dorm buildings. Is this a sign from administration that the next large donation will be put towards new housing in place of CV Circle? As exciting as this new development is, this announcement creates more questions than it answers, in true Catholic U style. With the current quality of dining hall options, we would just be happy with nuggets more than once a week and food court that doesn’t close at 8PM.