New Signage Sparks Introspection on Campus Composition
This year has yielded many changes to the University of Dallas campus, including new desks in Gorman Lecture Center, a renovated Orpheion theatre and the new Church lawn. However, new signs at Cardinal Farrell Hall and SB Hall have received barely any attention compared to these other additions.
The new signage installed last week replaced the old sign that said “Cardinal Farrel Hall” with the words “University of Dallas” in bright blue with the school’s logo, the triquetra interwoven with a triangle, which are both backlit at night. The new sign on SB Hall says “Satish and Yasmin Gupta College of Business.”
Ryan Reedy, Chief of Staff at the university, said: “Because the signs are visible from the Northgate Drive and the State Highway 114, they were installed to provide additional visibility within the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex.” In addition, he said: “The new signs were designed to align with the University’s updated Visual Identity Guidelines to help ensure consistent branding for the University.”
Many students had no idea that a new sign was ever installed, nor where. However, Madeleine Pileri, an undeclared freshman, did notice the new sign and shared her thoughts. She said: “I mean, it looks good, but I wouldn’t say it was necessarily something that would have been at the top of my priority list.” Addressing other campus additions, Pilieri said: “I like what they’ve been doing with the grounds; I think the lawn in front of the Church looks really nice.” Pileri also elaborated on some of her favorite aspects of the university campus, as well as one of her top construction priorities, saying: “It would be a big project, but evening out the Mall … It’s pretty lumpy, and can be hazardous if you’re in a rush and you trip on something.”
Ambrose Tallon, an undeclared sophomore, didn’t know that a new sign had been installed, but did share his thoughts on the other new campus renovations. He said: ”I think that the lawn in front of the chapel is very well done.” He also praised the new design of the former Rathskeller café, recently renamed the Dumb Ox, and said: “The Dumb Ox also has a pretty cool design; I like the kind of general atmosphere there, the ceiling and the chairs both have an old times aspect to them a bit.” Aside from these, he also mentioned his hopes for future campus improvements: “I feel like there’s more, even more room for green stuff, for more embellishment of the campus in that sense, especially considering that the buildings are not the prettiest.”
Not all campus changes have received as much positive feedback as the Church lawn, however. Beatrice Ellison, junior English major, questioned some of the choices made regarding some of the other recent renovations. She said: “The gym floor and the desks all got replaced over summer – the question I would ask is why? The desks were fine – and as far as I know the gym floor was fine too! The [desks] are smaller now and there’s less space to put your notebooks during class. They were covered in interesting graffiti that which added a lot of character to those classrooms.” She said: “It was a piece of evidence that many generations of students had been there.” Ellison wondered in the face of these improvements about other renovations on campus, and said: “Is this really something UD should spend her money on, when many of our student apartments are rife with black mold, making their residents constantly ill?”