Southwestern University Celebrates Opening of Dorothy Perry White Welcome Center
Loaded with all the latest amenities, the new Dorothy Perry White Welcome Center is ready to serve the current Southwestern community and greet the next generation of Pirates.
Southwestern University’s newest gem has officially opened its doors. Following nearly two years of construction, the Dorothy Perry White Welcome Center is ready to serve the current Southwestern community with all the latest amenities while also welcoming the next generation of Pirates to Georgetown.
Nestled on the eastern edge of campus as a distinctive welcoming point for visitors, the Dorothy Perry White Welcome Center was constructed using the same iconic limestone featured across campus. One of the building’s defining characteristics is a three-story steeple that houses the historic Rutersville Bell. Dating back to 1841, the bell was originally perched atop Rutersville College, one of Southwestern’s four root colleges. The Rutersville Bell has been a prominent feature of Southwestern matriculation, commencement, and presidential inauguration festivities since the 1970s.
Inside the Welcome Center, an expansive atrium guides visitors toward the facility’s variety of amenities. Located just inside the lobby is an art gallery that will soon display works from prominent local and national artists, attracting additional visitors to campus. In a tribute to the late Southwestern Professor of Art, paintings by Star Varner are permanently displayed on the walls of the lobby.
Across the atrium, a 50+ seat theatre provides space for prospective students and their families to learn more about Southwestern, and for current students to further build community.
The Dorothy Perry White Welcome Center also features the Market Fresh Cafe, set to provide visitors and students alike with a dining option on the east side of campus later this spring. Sprinkled throughout the facility are indoor and outdoor lounge spaces, including an expansive picnic area on the first floor and a large, open-air terrace on the second floor.
Administratively, the Dorothy Perry White Welcome Center is the new home to Southwestern’s Office of Admission and Financial Aid, as well as several conference rooms and meeting areas. It will serve as a central meeting point for prospective student events as well as campus tours.
The new facility could not have been completed without a large gift from a generous donor who wishes to remain anonymous. Inspired by the addition of another dedicated art gallery to Southwestern’s campus, the donor requested the Welcome Center be named in honor of Dorothy Perry White, a 1945 Southwestern art major and drama minor who went on to a successful career as an artist. Dorothy Ruth Perry, as she was known before marriage, was an active member of the Southwestern community in the early 1940s.
During her senior year, she was inducted into the Alpha Chi national honor society, named to the Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities, and was crowned “Miss Southwestern,” an honor that was previously bestowed to those “who embody the traits of integrity, kindness, and initiative, who live up to the ideals of Southwestern, and who is outstanding in all the activities in which they participate.”
The Welcome Center marks the second space on campus named after White as Dorothy Perry Atrium greets visitors to the Charles and Elizabeth Prothro Center for Lifelong Learning.
All three new facilities are part of the University’s $120 million investment in a series of construction and renovation projects that underscore Southwestern’s commitment to advancing the liberal arts in the 21st century. Across the campaign, renovations to the historic Mood-Bridwell Hall and A. Frank Smith, Jr. Library Center were recently completed, and work recently began on a new multi-purpose sports complex that will bring football back to Southwestern’s campus for the first time since 1950.
Southwestern University published this content on February 10, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on February 11, 2026 at 15:50 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]
