Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Arts & Culture
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • Videos
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Library
    • Research
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Arts & Culture

$1 million gift to Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies makes Sims Hall renovations a reality

Monday, November 26, 2012, By Erica Blust
Share
College of Visual and Performing Artsrenovations

CRSrenovationA walk down the hallways of the Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies (CRS) on the first floor of Sims Hall reveals the unmistakable sights and smells of a freshly completed makeover: crisp paint, new carpeting and a lighter, brighter atmosphere. The improvements—along with numerous others—are part of a major five-month renovation to the department’s space that was made possible by a $1 million gift from the Harry T. Mangurian Jr. Foundation Inc., facilitated by Terry M. Skuse G’75, a member of the advisory council in the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA), in which CRS is housed.

The department will celebrate the completed renovations on Friday, Nov. 30, with Skuse, who is the parent of VPA alumni Brian ’04 and Jeffrey ’05, who majored in CRS.

“It gives me great pleasure to celebrate the renovations with the Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies and to recognize Terry Skuse and the Mangurian Foundation for their generosity,” says VPA Dean Ann Clarke. “A student’s education at our college is not only dependent on outstanding faculty, curricula and learning opportunities, but on an environment that encourages growth, collaboration and pride. You can feel a new energy and excitement within the department and on the first floor of Sims Hall.”

“The renovations have given the department a fresh, warm atmosphere as well as the advantages of cutting-edge technology,” says Amos Kiewe, professor of CRS and chair of the department, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2010. “The classrooms represent our future while still maintaining a link to our rich past.”

In addition to new carpeting and paint throughout, highlights of the renovation include:

• a large multi-purpose room with full technology, a mobile teaching station, easily movable chairs and tables and ample storage;
• new classroom desks with wheels and cup holders that can adapt to right- or left-handed students;
• a new suite for the department’s teaching assistants, featuring 12 individual workspaces, conference spaces and computer workstations;
• a computer lab for faculty and graduate students;
• frosted glass doors on faculty offices to allow more light into the hallway, with tack boards next to each door for each faculty member’s use;
• an updated main lobby with deacon benches and a cable-ready digital welcome screen featuring news and departmental announcements;
• a comfortable, welcoming seating area in the department’s main office for prospective students, families and other guests that features a bookcase to showcase faculty publications and an additional digital welcome screen; and
• the addition of slim, modern benches to the hallway outside the classrooms, as well as decorative wood paneling with cutouts that allow light from the classrooms into the hallway.

  • Author

Erica Blust

  • Recent
  • Confronting ‘Who We Are”
    Tuesday, January 19, 2021, By News Staff
  • Arts and Sciences Welcomes New Director of Forensics Kathleen Corrado
    Tuesday, January 19, 2021, By Dan Bernardi
  • University College Announces Online Degree in Computer Programming
    Tuesday, January 19, 2021, By Eileen Jevis
  • Stadium Testing Center Closed for Planned Enhancements Wednesday, Jan. 20
    Tuesday, January 19, 2021, By News Staff
  • Sound Beat: Access Audio Offering Children’s Audiobooks about Enslaved People by Cheryl Wills ’89
    Tuesday, January 19, 2021, By Cristina Hatem

More In Arts & Culture

Sound Beat: Access Audio Offering Children’s Audiobooks about Enslaved People by Cheryl Wills ’89

Sound Beat: Access Audio is providing two free family audiobooks written by Emmy Award-winning journalist Cheryl Wills ’89,  the great-great-great granddaughter of Emma and Sandy Wills, enslaved people from Haywood, Tennessee. The audiobooks are narrated by the author and are…

Syracuse Stage Announces Changes to the 2020/2021 Season

Syracuse Stage announced adjustments to the schedule for the remainder of the 2020/2021 season. These adjustments include replacing previously announced shows with new titles and come in direct response to the evolving situation concerning the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting in February,…

College of Visual and Performing Arts Flexes Creative Muscle to Address the COVID-19 Pandemic

“Visual and Performing Arts students wouldn’t have a reason to be here if they couldn’t sing or hold an instrument or act onstage or spend time in the studio.  The arts are a social activity, not something that lends itself…

Special Collections Research Center Receives Grant to Process Forrest J. Ackerman Papers

The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation is providing Syracuse University Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) with a $17,000 grant to process the Forrest J. Ackerman Papers. Ackerman was a popular American science fiction author, editor, agent, collector and fan. His…

Architecture Students Help Design Street Renovation Project in China

Since April 2020, a team of students from the School of Architecture have been working on a master plan to transform a street scape in the future city of Xiong’an New Area in China’s Hebei province. After a long delay…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2021 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.