Charge
In September of 2016, Dr. Patricia Telles-Irvin, Vice President for Student Affairs, formed the Black House Feasibility Study Steering Committee. The charge to the group was to work with the newly-hired architect team from Moody-Nolan on the feasibility study. The Steering Committee incorporated feedback from the Listening Sessions, the recommendations from the Black House Facility Review Committee, and information from the Black Student Experience Task Force report, along with additional feedback from key stakeholders, to determine the program, cost, and approach to any proposed renovation of The Black House.
This team, under the leadership of Dr. Lesley-Ann Brown-Henderson, Executive Director of Campus Inclusion and Community, and Dr. Julie Payne-Kirchmeier, Associate Vice President and Chief of Staff for Student Affairs, was charged with implementing this process, and a final report was ready for Dr. Telles-Irvin on February 28, 2017. This report was reviewed, updated, and the feasibility study presented to senior administration members in the summer of 2017. The project was approved to move forward to the schematic design phase in early Fall 2017. Moody-Nolan Architects were re-engaged to conduct this next part of the study, the Steering Committee reactivated, and stakeholder engagement plans developed.
The schematic design was finished in May 2018, and the Educational Properties Committee approved the project to move forward for design development and construction in June 2018. The Steering Committee was again engaged, and design development began in earnest in November of 2018. Construction is anticipated to begin on July 1, 2019.