By Brooke Adams, communications specialist, University Marketing and Communications 

Come join us Friday as we officially celebrate the new Carolyn and Kem Gardner Building, which will replace Orson Spencer Hall as home to the U’s College of Social and Behavioral Science and numerous associated centers and institutes.

A ceremony to mark groundbreaking for the Carolyn and Kem Gardner Building will take place at 10 a.m. at the Marriott Library Plaza. The Gardners will join U President David W. Pershing, Senior Vice President Ruth Watkins and other dignitaries at the event.

Orson Spencer Hall, known as OSH, was opened in 1955; its namesake was the first chancellor of the University of Deseret, which became the University of Utah. The outdated building no longer provided adequate space or amenities for the College of Social and Behavioral Science—the largest college at the university, which accounts for 27 percent of undergraduate degrees awarded annually.

The College of Social and Behavioral Science encompasses seven departments, five programs and several institutes and centers, including the Social Science Research Institute and the National Center for Veterans Studies. All will be located in the new building, along with the Hinckley Institute of Politics, the Office of Global Education and the newly created School for Cultural and Social Transformation.

In addition, the Gardner building will house 33 classrooms, two auditoriums, conference and project rooms, collaborative laboratory facilities and several student study spaces.

“Ours is a leading institution for social and behavioral sciences, and we know that this new facility will only ignite further research, discovery and progress in these areas on the U campus,” said Pershing. “We’re grateful to the donors, and particularly Carolyn and Kem Gardner, for both their monetary gifts and intangible support for this building.”

In addition to the Gardner gift, other donors who contributed funds for the new building include Chartwells Higher Education, the Emma Eccles Jones Foundation, Rocco C. Siciliano, the Meldrum Foundation, Jeffrey K. and Sarah S. Scott and the Richard and Leslie Haskell Family Foundation. Significant funding also will come from student fees.