The Florida State University College of Business celebrated a history of excellence and a new era of preeminence on Friday with the unveiling of a stained-glass window in Dodd Hall’s Heritage Museum.
The stained-glass window features Legacy Hall, the college’s world-class new home, and refers to the college’s founding as the FSU School of Business in 1950. The window — designed, fabricated and installed by FSU’s Master Craftsman Studio — joins 42 other stained-glass windows that grace the museum, each “representing beloved entities and events across our campus” and “honoring the vision and values of FSU,” College of Business Dean Michael Hartline said.
“This window is more than art: It is a tribute to our legacy,” Hartline told a crowd that included college students, alumni, faculty, staff and representatives of Legacy Hall architect Goody Clancy and construction manager Culpepper Construction. “Each piece of glass, unique in hue and shape, fits together to form the greater whole, just as every student, faculty member, staff member, alumnus and friend has contributed to our extraordinary journey.”
The window unveiling took place as the college continues its yearlong celebration of its 75th anniversary and stands poised to move into its futuristic new home. College officials expect the new facility to further elevate the college’s national and international standing. Legacy Hall will open for classes this spring, marked by a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Jan. 6.
Friday’s ceremony launched a full day of celebration for the college, which afterward hosted a “Farewell to Rovetta” event that paid tribute to its decades-long home. The Rovetta Business Building opened in 1958, with the Rovetta Business Annex added in 1984. The college also hosted a “Toast and Tour” event to honor alumni, friends and others who contributed to the funding and construction of Legacy Hall.
“As we prepare to bid farewell to our beloved Rovetta Business Building and Annex, which has served so many, so well, for so long, we embark on a new era of preeminence,” Hartline, the college’s dean for the past decade, said during the window unveiling. “Every feature of Legacy Hall has been crafted to maximize learning, collaboration and growth, and the artistry of this window allows us to see and feel our new home’s promise to deepen our mission of transforming lives through business education.”
Hartline thanked Fred Tresca, a 2015 college Alumni Hall of Fame inductee, and his wife, Deborah, for serving as presenting sponsors of the unveiling event. He also thanked all alumni and friends whose donations “helped fund this brilliant and radiant showpiece.”
“Your generosity ensures that all members of the College of Business family – past, present and future – see themselves reflected in our evolution into a world-class business school,” he added.
Also, Hartline thanked FSU’s University Libraries, Master Craftsman Studio and the Heritage Museum Advisory Board for their “partnership in bringing this vision to life.”
The Dodd Hall ceremony also featured comments from alumnus Jamie Harden (B.S. Finance ’90), chairman of the college’s Board of Governors, who told attendees: “This is amazing, and what a way to kick off our big event tonight … and 75 years of celebration of this school is a great, crowning moment.”