In an exclusive “Toast and Tour” on Nov. 14, the College of Business and Florida State University showed off Legacy Hall and saluted the people who helped fund and build it. Donors visited the rooms and spaces they named. They also experienced the world-class grandeur of the college’s new $160 million facility.
The building, more than two decades in the making, will open for classes on Jan. 7, with a ribbon cutting on Jan. 6.
“There have been so many generous people who have contributed to helping us build this building,” FSU President Richard McCullough said in the facility’s expansive atrium, underneath chandeliers hanging from three stories above. “I can’t thank you enough.”
McCullough noted the help of not only alumni and friends but also faculty and staff members, students, community partners and the State of Florida. He also emphasized the “profound” impact of the project, which produced 1,700 jobs and $260 million in economic output.
“And it will make an even greater impact in the future,” he said.
“Here’s to Legacy Hall. Here’s to our amazing family. Here’s to our donors who made it happen. Here’s to our past, our present and our future.” — College of Business Dean Michael Hartline
McCullough touted Legacy Hall, the largest academic building in FSU’s history, for its promise to further elevate the college and university – noting, for example, FSU’s No. 11 ranking among public universities and the College of Business’ No. 3 ranking among public schools and No. 10 ranking among all business schools by Niche.
“This building is a symbol of Florida State’s continued rise to preeminence,” McCullough said. “It’s a cutting-edge building, and we’re going to do cutting-edge things here.”
More than 500 attendees also heard from FSU Board of Trustees Chairman Peter Collins and College of Business Dean Michael Hartline. In addition, they heard from the College of Business choir, dubbed the BizTones, which sang FSU’s “Hymn to the Garnet and the Gold” from the first-floor balcony.
Attendees included current and former members of the Board of Trustees and College of Business Board of Governors, representatives of architect Goody Glancy and construction manager Culpepper Construction Company, and members of the college’s Student Leadership Council, who showed donors to the rooms and spaces they sponsored.
“What an honor to be here celebrating this milestone event that has been years in the works,” Bethany Schenk, a 2024 College of Business Alumni Hall of Fame inductee, said after the event.
Schenk is a namesake of the Bethany and Ron Schenk Meeting Room in the Student Engagement Suite. She also provided the initial artwork that graces Legacy Hall.
“It has been magical watching boards, donors, the faculty, the community, Culpepper, all the people involved, come together,” she added. “It’s an unbelievable thing to be a part of.”
Collins, a 2021 inductee into the College of Business Alumni Hall of Fame, highlighted the “unbelievable pride” that fellow business alumni must feel when they “walk in these doors.”
“My heart is full for Florida State,” said Collins, a benefactor of Legacy Hall’s Peter and Jennifer Collins Colonnade. “My heart is full for the College of Business.”
Hartline, who started work on a new facility for the College of Business as an associate dean in 2011, credited his immediate predecessors, deans Melvin Stith and Caryn Beck-Dudley, for launching funding efforts for a new facility. He called Friday “a day of gratitude, a day of reflection and, most importantly, a day of recognition for all of you who helped us achieve this vision.”
Friday’s event wrapped up a full day of celebration for the college, beginning with the unveiling of a stained-glass window in Dodd Hall’s Heritage Museum. The window features a rendering of Legacy Hall and refers to the college’s founding as the FSU School of Business in 1950.
After the unveiling, the college hosted a “Farewell to Rovetta” pizza party and networking event that paid tribute to its decades-long home. The Rovetta Business Building opened in 1958, with the Rovetta Business Annex added in 1984.
Then, “Farewell to Rovetta” attendees formed a giant “75” for an aerial photo in recognition of the college’s 75th anniversary.
At the “Toast and Tour” event, Hartline invited attendees to raise a glass, and he raised one himself.
“Dear friends,” he said. “Here’s to Legacy Hall. Here’s to our amazing family. Here’s to our donors who made it happen. Here’s to our past, our present and our future. Cheers.”