New admission welcome center at Brown opens its doors to prospective students and families

The welcome center's main entrance is on the Quiet Green, which is home to Brown's iconic Van Wickle Gates, historic Carrie Tower and Martin Puryear's "Slavery Memorial." The center, which was designed in harmony with the historic, Greek Revival-style 1834 Manning Hall, features interior woodwork that nods to the building's fluted Doric columns, brick elements that evoke some campus residence halls and buildings, and wood accents inspired by Martinos Auditorium in the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts.

"One of the stunning features of this space is that visitors are able to experience the eclectic architectural styles that they'll see when they're out on campus," Powell said.

Brown junior Sanai Rashid is among the 70 student admission ambassadors who will bring the new space to life as they welcome and engage with visitors. When the day's first tour group arrived on Monday morning, Rashid helped make history by welcoming the first visitors to the new space.

"The first thing I remember when I stepped in the space is that it felt so bright, inviting and welcoming - I was amazed," said Rashid, who is from New York and is concentrating in English and economics. "There are just so many beautiful images and text and so many different creative elements and aspects really embedded into the space to give visitors, students and families a really nice welcome to Brown."

One such element is a larger-than-life 2D color map of the Brown campus in which campus buildings and green spaces spring to life, serving as the focal point of an expanse of wall flanked by the center's windows.

"I'm so grateful that we have this kind of space now to introduce stories and to give visitors a sense of Brown before the tour even starts," Rashid said.

A fitting tribute to Galen V. Henderson

To the colleagues, friends, loved ones and mentees of the late Dr. Galen V. Henderson, there is no better place to bear his name than a space dedicated to welcoming people to Brown.

Henderson was a 1993 Warren Alpert Medical School graduate who came to Brown via the University's longstanding partnership with Tougaloo College, a historically Black college in Mississippi.

"His spirit, his brilliance, his compassion, his calling - they're all here," said his widow, Dr. Vanessa Britto, who is Brown's associate vice president for campus life and executive director of student health and wellness. "When I look around at this really beautiful building… I can't help but consider all that it represents, and I can't help but be humbled."