Alumni, friends, faculty, staff, students and their families gathered on Friday, October 4 as the college formally dedicated its academic facility. Completed after more than two years of planning and construction, the $9.4 million facility adds 23,016 square feet to SCO’s campus.
Representing SCO’s most ambitious undertaking since the construction of The Eye Center in 2002, the new building’s classrooms feature a capacity of nearly 700 with break-out rooms. In addition to the new classrooms, the complex also includes an atrium and grand hall, new
pre-clinical laboratories, research suites, faculty offices, study nooks
and other improvements.
Leading the dedication ceremony was SCO President Richard W. Phillips, OD ’78. Also officiating were SCO Board Chair Jarrett Johnson, OD ’90, former Board member and Memphis Mayor A C Wharton, and Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell, son-in-law of Norman Stringer, OD ’49.
Participating in the ribbon-cutting ceremony were SCO President Emeritus William E. Cochran, OD ’68, Immediate Past Board Chair John A. Gazaway, OD ’67, and Martha Rosemore Morrow, OD ’74, Alumni Council Representative to the Board. Representatives of the faculty, staff and students included Faculty Representative Scott Ensor, OD ’01, Stephanie Lew, ’14, Jigna Patel, ’15, and two of SCO’s longest-serving staff members, Sadie Fleming, Physical Plant staff member of 41 years, and Velma Dickson, Student Services Staff Member of 39 years.
Prior to the dedication ceremony, the NBC TV affiliate in Memphis toured the facility, and the ceremony was covered by the local Fox station as well as print publications. SCO’s building project was funded by a five-year $4 million capital campaign. As of November 2013, the college had surpassed the $3.7 million fundraising mark, making this one of its most successful fundraising campaigns in the school’s history. Major donors were recognized with signs noting named areas throughout the new complex.
If you would like to learn more about giving opportunities to help us finalize the capital campaign in support of our new academic facility, contact the Office of Institutional Advancement to discuss opportunities to make a gift. Call (901) 722-3216 make a gift online through SCO's website.