A Transformed “One Stop Shop' for Student Life on Campus

This story concludes a series spotlighting AU's Mary Graydon Center (MGC). Central to the new Student Thriving Complex-fueled by the Change Can't Wait campaign-MCG has undergone renovations to foster student engagement and community with multifunctional areas for gathering, student organizations, and events. Read the first story and second story.

For a listener in the Mary Graydon Center (MGC), the soundtrack of summer 2024 buzzed with the hum of power tools.

Much of the building has seen active construction at one point or another over the past 12 months. The multi-phase renovations are part of the Student Thriving Complex (STC) project and fueled by Change Can't Wait.

The summer surge in renovations meant that Eagles returned to campus in August 2024 to find more flexible and intentional student spaces on the third floor of MGC, which now includes the new Student Engagement Commons. And while not formally part of the STC scope, the first total renovation of the Terrace Dining Room (TDR) in nearly 40 years ushered in a new era for the building's lower level.

Planned for completion this coming spring 2025, the final phase of renovations on the second floor will cement MGC as the primary core of student activity on campus.

Creating and Expanding Spaces

For the AU community, the transformation marks the newest chapter in MGC's fabled history.

Generations of Eagles have passed through MGC's doors. Since opening in 1925, it has housed dormitories, classrooms, and even the School of Communication over the decades. If walls could talk, they'd tell countless tales of budding friendships and even AU sweetheart meet-cutes.

Renovations have long been planned given the age and evolution of the building's role at AU. With today's students spending approximately one-quarter of their time on campus in MGC, the new designs respond to urgent spatial and convening demands.

According to University Center Director Michael Elmore, who has been involved in the planning and implementation process, the renovations promote students' agency in choosing how they spend time in MGC.

"Our intent, in a nutshell, is empowerment for students," says Elmore. "The way I put it-we're trying to build spaces to do and spaces to be."

One key focus, Elmore explains, was increasing the inventory of reservable rooms. MGC annually hosts over 4000 events, with over 35,000 events typically scheduled campus wide.

For AU's 150-plus student organizations, being able to reserve rooms for weekly meetings or host signature events is integral to their campus presence.

Jackson Dietz, SOC/BA '25, SPA/MPA '26, a public relations and strategic communications major who served as the inaugural director of AU's Spirit and Traditions Board (STB) for the '23-'24 academic year, says that much of STB's programming was hosted out of MGC.

"We ran over 23 events [with] over 1,500 attendees combined between all of our events," Dietz says. "In the context of the Mary Graydon Center, it's the center of student life here at AU. Our office is in MGC, and we have been able to run a lot of successful events out of MGC."

The new blend of large gathering rooms alongside undesignated, small-group seating areas means that MGC is now as dynamic as it is functional.

Promoting Access and Engagement

Another priority of MCG's redesign has been streamlining access to student-facing services. The new design brings student and administrative offices and staff-previously split across levels-together in designated arrangements on the building's second and third floors.

For Ayana Wilson, director of Center for Student Involvement (CSI), these floor plans make for more efficient and productive peer-to-peer interactions.

"One of the things I am excited about is the clarity the renovations will provide," says Wilson. "Now, students don't have to go to multiple places to talk to the same office or engage with the same office."

As of this semester, a suite of offices on the third floor of MGC includes New Student and Family Programs and Center for Leadership and Community Engagement. The Center for Diversity and Inclusion, also on the third floor, now has permanent space for the TQ Co-Op-a vital resource for transgender and nonbinary students.

The role of philanthropy in the MGC renovations underscores the project's resonance throughout the AU community, with lead support from former Vice President of Campus Life Gail Hanson. Every time student leaders collaborate and interact in the AU Student Government Suite, recognized as generously provided by Gail Short Hanson and John N. Hanson, they'll follow in her 20-year legacy of service at AU.

With formal completion on the near horizon, the transformed MGC is already living up to a shared AU mantra cited by Wilson: "Gather. Grow. Create."

"When we think about what happens in Mary Graydon, those three things are happening all the time," she explains. "It's a one-stop shop to find those opportunities."

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