Former South Dakota State University President David Chicoine '69 would occasionally point out that buildings don’t make a university — people do.
Each issue of STATE Magazine reinforces that. There are literally several thousand names and photos in this and every edition.
The point is also proven with the onset of summer, when most of the campus’ 400 acres are serene, except for some construction and maintenance, summer camps and events like Prairie Repertory Theatre. It pales in comparison to the constant hustle of 12,000 students and dozens of events each week for the other nine months.
This is not to say buildings don’t matter. They do.
Places are needed for students’ social and academic experiences. Faculty and researchers depend upon classrooms and labs. Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium holds 19,400 fans for Saturday games in the fall.
SDSU completed its 30-year campus master plan last year. A major renovation of Larson Commons is nearing completion. There’s a groundbreaking planned for an on-campus soccer stadium. Other projects in the early phases of the plan include Binnewies Hall, Crothers Engineering Hall, a new academic building next to Hilton M. Briggs Library and the library itself. That’s a small sampling of a lengthy list.
Our university is always looking ahead — to the next academic year, to the next several decades.
It’s a bit quiet right now. We’re a couple months past graduation, where more than 2,200 degrees were conferred. Graduates’ pathway to an SDSU degree now gives way to the next chapter of life.
Yet, in only a few months, we’ll be in the midst of move-in. Car and pickup loads of furniture and belongings will get moved back. Some will bring 2,000-plus freshmen to start their SDSU journey.
And the freshman-to-degree cycle continues. People do make a university.
Steve Erpenbach '85
SDSU Alumni & Foundation Chief Executive Officer
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