Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University will celebrate the grand opening of the Wayne and Marianne Ard Building — the new home of the University’s Health and Counseling Services— on Thursday, October 13th, with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
The event will begin at 2:30pm, and is free and open to the public. A building tour and reception will follow at 3:00pm.
In 2015, Wayne Ard, president of Ard Construction, pledged a major financial gift to the University to fund music scholarships in honor of his late wife, Marianne.
In recognition of his generosity, APSU President Alisa White announced that Austin Peay’s newly renovated health and student counseling services building will be named the Wayne and Marianne Ard Building.
“For several decades, the Ards have been great friends of this University, and I’m honored that Wayne has chosen to honor his late wife, Marianne, in this way,” White said. “Their love and generosity will be a part of the spirit of this building, which will be a place of healing for many of our students.”
The building formerly housed the Church of Christ Student Center, located at the corner of University Avenue and College Street, but APSU purchased the vacant facility in 2014. To make the building functional for the University’s health and student counseling services, the APSU Division of Student Affairs contributed more than $1 million for renovations.
“What I love about this new building and about the whole project of developing an integrated health and counseling center is that it has been developed from start to finish with students in mind,” Dr. Jeffrey Rutter, director of Counseling and Health Services, said. “Both health services and counseling services are now going to be more visible to students and, we hope, easier for them to access. I can’t emphasize enough how important both those things are. The credit really should go to our vice president for student affairs, Dr. Sherryl Byrd, who had that vision all along and who has worked tirelessly this past year to turn that vision into a reality.”
According to Byrd, “I’m most proud of the fact that we will now be able to provide a state-of-the-art medical facility for our students, as well as an increased capacity to offer mental health services. In addition to exam rooms and offices for counselors, the Ard Building contains a pharmacy, lab, health education/resource center and a space for classes and other group work. We take very seriously our commitment to support student learning and success.”
For more information on the grand opening, contact APSU Alumni Relations at 931.221.1279.
