Ground Broken for New Dunklau Center
By Morgan German
President Friedrich and others, including members of The Rupert Dunklau Foundation,broke ground for the new Dunklau Center for Science, Math, and Business on Thursday, April 5. The groundbreaking took place during a special outdoor chapel service held north of the old Science Building where construction for the new building will begin shortly.
Those who participated in the groundbreaking include:
- President Friedrich
- Mr. Larry Shepard, Vice President, The Rupert Dunklau Foundation
- Rev. Paul Dunklau, Trustee, The Rupert Dunklau Foundation
- Mr. Paul Schudel, Chair, Concordia University, Nebraska Board of Regents
- Ms. Clara Rich
- Dr. Kristy Jurchen, Associate Professor of Chemistry
Rev. Dr. J. Dirk Reek, Emeritus Professor of Theology, gave a message on 1 John 5:4-10. Verses 7 and 8 read,
“For there are three that testify (of Jesus Christ): the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.”
Reek said that in the science field, students and professors learn more about the Creator of the original water and blood and that as they learn about these substances they also learn about God himself.
President Friedrich spoke about the need for an updated facility that could house the science, mathematics, and business departments since the current Science Building was built during the Cold War. Jesse Hall, where the Business department is housed, was originally built as a dormitory and its classrooms are not very conducive to modern educational technology.
Friedrich also spoke about how important science was at the time when the Science Building was constructed and how this importance has continued and expanded even more into the fields of computer science, mathematics, and business.
Senior Clara Rich, a biology and music double major, joked about how students like her who are involved in both science and music would have a shorter distance to walk between the two buildings after the completion of the Dunklau Center.
Rich read from Psalm 8, which reads: “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth….When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.” Psalm 8:1, 3-5
Rich spoke about how God allows mankind to learn more about His creation and how science helps us do that.
Rich spoke about when she and her fellow science majors heard rumors about the possibility of a new science building, they all tried hard to not get their hopes up too high in case it didn’t happen. Now that the plan is in motion she says she is a little sad that it won’t be completed until after she graduates, but that she is excited about the opportunities for learning and research that it will provide future students.
Construction of the Dunklau Center, as well as a renovation of the current science building, is set to be complete in December 2019.
