WCU Hoists Final Steel Beam On The Sciences & Engineering Center And The Commons

Press release from West Chester University:

July 27, 2020

WCU Hoists Final Steel Beam on The Sciences & Engineering Center and The Commons As
University Ushers in its 150th Anniversary Year

At the threshold of its 150th anniversary year, West Chester University has hoisted the last steel beam needed to “top off” the framing of The Sciences & Engineering Center and The Commons, the newest and largest building in the University’s 149-year history currently under construction.
President Fiorentino recently visited the campus construction site, located directly
across from WCU’s Student Recreation Center along 275 North Campus Drive in West Chester,
to sign the 12" high x 33' long beam prior to its lift and lofty placement. The project’s
lead benefactors joined him to mark the historic moment and sign the beam: Founder,
President, and CEO of ProMetrics Marc Duey, who gifted $1 million on behalf of the
Duey family; Student Services, Incorporated (SSI) Chair of the Board of Directors
Bernie Carrozza ‘66, representing SSI and its gift of $1 million; and West Chester
University Alumni Association (WCUAA) President Bill Scottoline ‘74, representing
WCUAA and its gift of $150,000.

Known traditionally as a formal “topping off” ceremony, the longstanding construction
custom commemorates the completion of a building’s framing phase. Painted “West Chester
University gold” and bearing the University’s 150th anniversary logo, the beam is the outer-most and highest beam in the NW corner of
the facility.

The building’s construction is especially timely, as STEM students are needed now
more than ever to help advance and heal the world in which we live. “Digital convergence,
artificial intelligence, and advanced engineering design will make our students engage
like never before and open a gateway to integrating across disciplines to present
eloquent solutions to the vexing challenges of today, like COVID-19, and of tomorrow,”
said Marc Duey, founder of numerous health care companies, including West Chester
Biomedical AI, LLC; ProMetrics, Inc.; Atrin Pharmaceuticals; Felicitex Therapeutics,
Inc.; and TarMeta Biosciences.

Upon completion in the spring of 2021, the new $130-million facility will be home
to the University’s rapidly growing health science curricula, physics, and the new
biomedical engineering program, as well as expansive academic and support spaces

“For the SSI family the new facility epitomizes and captures the essence of our mission
– putting students first,” said Student Services Incorporated Board President Bernard
J. Carrozza ’66. “SSI would like to commend all of the partners who had the vision
to provide and the future to create. It is not just about stone and steel, it is about
students and stability, students and opportunity, students and their specialness…”

President Fiorentino reinforced the University’s unyielding commitment to students
despite the enormity of a global interruption. “In a year that has been nothing short
of a rollercoaster for our University and our world, today is both a highlight and
a triumph,” remarked President Fiorentino. “At West Chester University, nothing ---
not even a pandemic --- will ever stand in the way of our mission of advancing student
success. The Sciences & Engineering Center and the Commons will be an educational
game-changer for students in the sciences, as well as for the entire campus community.
Thank you to everyone who played a part in making this dream a reality.”

Recognizing that meaningful connections happen in a variety of settings, the facility
will also feature a Commons, a welcoming and stimulating environment for students
to gather, eat, and work. The 800-seat residential dining facility will encompass
more than 16,000 square feet of the building’s entire second floor. An intentional
and progressive design will encourage students to use the facility as a third space
and an exciting location to meet, get a healthy meal between classes, and engage in
other formative, non-academic activities.

In addition to serving students’ academic and co-curricular needs, the building will
also include a 450-car parking garage.

SECC Project Benefactors

The three-story facility is being built with the initial support of two critical leadership
gifts. Founder, President, and CEO of ProMetrics Marc Duey, also an adjunct professor
at the University teaching in the Marketing Department and the Pharmaceutical Product
Development Program, in association with the Duey family, made a generous gift of
$1 million toward the important project. ProMetrics serves the decision support needs
of specialty biopharma executives with a focus on patient-level data impacting prescription
efficiency. Under the direction of Mr. Duey, ProMetrics has served over 150 clients,
completed more than 10,000 projects, and played a role in the launch of dozens of
specialty brands that have reached sales in excess of one-billion dollars per year.

Student Services, Incorporated (SSI), also made a generous gift of $1 million to the
project, thanks to Student Services, Incorporated Chair of the Board of Directors
Bernie Carrozza. Student Services, Incorporated is a not-for-profit organization designed
to serve the students of West Chester University. SSI is committed to WCU students
and stands ready to ensure that they have whatever they need to meet their academic
goals. The objective of the corporation is to initiate, regulate, and operate the
financial matters of the University’s co-curricular student activities.

The West Chester University Alumni Association also contributed significantly to the
building project with a generous donation of $150,000.

“At a time when West Chester University enrolls more than 4,000 STEM majors, Marc
and Maureen Duey; Student Services, Incorporated; and the West Chester University
Alumni Association are investing in the next generation of WCU graduates who will
enhance our region and our world as innovative engineers, nurses, nutritionists, physicists,
public health professionals, and scientists,” said West Chester University President
Christopher Fiorentino at the facility’s groundbreaking ceremony on April 27, 2019.
“All of us are grateful to these generous benefactors who are creating new possibilities
and great opportunities for an increasing number of WCU students who are dedicated
to preparing themselves for high-performance careers that will make a considerable
difference to many.”

About West Chester University

Enrolling more than 17,000 students, West Chester University is the largest member
of the 14-institution Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. Founded in 1871,
the University is a comprehensive public institution, offering a diverse range of
more than 200 undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral programs in more than 50 fields
of study. In addition to the main campus in West Chester, the University offers programs
through its graduate center, the campus in Philadelphia, and online. Six colleges
and two schools comprise the University: University College, Colleges of Arts and
Humanities, Business and Public Management, Education and Social Work, Health Sciences,
and the Sciences and Mathematics, as well as the Wells School of Music, and the Graduate
School.

This press release was produced by West Chester University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.