Queallys donate funds for new admissions building

This summer, University of Richmond announced in a press release that Paul and Anne-Marie Queally had donated a lead donation of $10 million to finance the new Queally Center for Admissions and Career Services on the Westhampton side of campus.

To date, Paul, Richmond College '86, and Anne-Marie, Westhampton College '86, Queally have given nearly $20 million to the university, including a lead gift in 2007 to launch the construction of Queally Hall in the Robins School of Business. Paul Queally is a partner at the investment firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson and Stowe.

As The Collegian previously reported, Queally has also been linked to financially supporting the men's lacrosse team.

The Queally Center for Admissions and Career Services will combine the admissions and financial aid offices that are currently in Sarah Brunet Memorial Hall and the employer development team of the Office of Alumni and Career Services.

The employer development team works with employers who hire University of Richmond students. Students will go to the new center for job and internship interviews.

The career advising team of the Office of Alumni and Career Services will stay in its current location in Tyler Haynes Commons, said Kristin Woods, assistant vice president of the Office of Alumni and Career Services.

"Having the employer group in the same building as admission demonstrates to prospective students and families the university's strong commitment to ensuring students achieve their first-choice destination after graduation," Woods said.

The plans for the building are not yet finalized, but Woods said she hoped that the new building would have increased job interview space, increased digital interview space, additional parking for events and employers and increased reception space.

Gil Villanueva, dean of admission, said that combining the employment group of Career Services and the admissions office into one building made sense. "To have the [employer development team] facility right there really will leave a powerful impression with our prospective students and parents."

Sarah Brunet Memorial Hall is too small to hold all of the prospective students and parents who attend the admissions office's daily information sessions, Villanueva said.

The admissions office often divides large groups and meets with them in the University of Richmond School of Law or the Jepson School of Leadership Studies. He said he hoped that the new building would have an assembly hall large enough to hold 500 guests.

The admissions office is often one of the first buildings that prospective students visit on campus, and a positive impression of that office could lead a student to apply, Villanueva said. "We want to make sure that we set Richmond apart from the other schools on their list."

The Queally Center for Admissions and Career Services is part of a project to make the River Road entrance, near the University Forest Apartments, the main entrance to campus.

Moving the admissions building to the Westhampton side of campus will change the way that tour guides give tours to prospective students.

"Right now, I'm not really seeing how it could be a really beneficial place for that building," said senior Rose Wynn, a tour guide. "It seems to me that a lot of focus of the tour is on the Richmond side of campus, just because that's where the majority of the academic buildings are."

Sarah Brunet Memorial Hall is also situated near the E. Claiborne Robins Stadium, the athletic facilities and residence halls used by first-year men and women.

Walking to the other side of campus to see these buildings could add more time to tours that are already an hour and a half long, said Andrew Jones, a senior and tour guide.

Villanueva said that the admissions office staff had not decided what the new tour routes would be. "The key is there are certain parts of campus that we always want students to see," he said.

The university has not released an anticipated date of completion for the Queally Center for Admissions and Career Services. In a press release, representatives said that the university continues to seek funding for the project.

Contact features editor Brennan Long at brennan.long@richmond.edu