On Wednesday, Oct. 30, administrators from the University of Connecticut ceremoniously christened the site of the new campus nursing building, welcoming government officials and funding partners to speak on the building’s development.
“There were just 13 students in the first class of 1942, and there was just one instructor,” said UConn School of Nursing Dean Victoria Vaughan Dickson. “This year we welcomed our largest class ever.” According to a report in UConn Today, over 500 new students were admitted into the UConn School of Nursing’s class of 2028.
Throughout the opening ceremony, speakers noted that the nursing program historically received little attention or funding for a considerable portion of its existence. Recalling her experience as a nursing student at one of the school’s former facilities, nicknamed “the cottage”, project benefactor Elizabeth DeLuca expressed excitement at the future accomplishments a new space will foster.
“I always wondered, why couldn’t the nursing school be more prominent?” asked DeLuca, proprietor of the Frederick A. DeLuca Foundation.
Addressing the crowd, university president Radenka Maric extended her gratitude to the DeLuca Foundation for their financial contribution.
“Thanks to the transformative generosity of this gift, the largest in the history of this university, we will be able to provide the scholarships and programmatic support for dynamic nursing education,” said Maric.
The building site is located on the Storrs South Campus, between the Fine Arts Building and the South Campus Residence Halls. Per UConn’s deputy spokesperson, Mike Enright, “The new building will be about 90,000 square feet and include the following program elements: instructional spaces, including a lecture hall and classrooms; simulation lab suite; human behavioral research lab; wet lab; student academic center; offices and support spaces.”
Set for completion in July 2026, UConn nursing faculty emphasized the expanded capabilities and opportunities a new complex will help to deliver.
“Our new five-story, state of the art building will provide much needed space and resources that are essential to the student enrollment expansion,” said Dickson.
Joining in the praise for the School of Nursing’s development were numerous state and local officials, including Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont (D), state Senator Mae Flexer (D) and state Representative Greg Haddad (D).
“There are thousands of people applying to be nurses here at UConn, and maybe places for less than ten percent of them, and we desperately need the nurses,” noted Lamont.
Speaking from their perspective as UConn graduates, Flexer and Haddad noted the critical role of government support in ensuring the success of future programs.
“This building isn’t just a building,” said Flexer. “This school of nursing will not be successful if the state of Connecticut is not an equal partner in this university.”
“As the chair of the higher education committee, we are very acutely aware that the training that’s required of nurses is changing annually,” added Haddad. “This facility will allow us to be sure that we are on the cutting edge of training.”
Concluding the celebration, speakers donned hard hats and raised golden shovels, breaking the soil below and formally inaugurating construction on the future home to the UConn School of Nursing.