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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Jan. 26, 2005 MUW receives IHL Board approval to name buildings By Jill D. O’Bryant COLUMBUS, Miss. -- Mississippi University for Women has received IHL Board approval to rename South Callaway Hall, slated to house Student Services, after Sen. Thad Cochran and his wife Rose, and the university’s new recreation building after late alumna Marie Charlotte Stark. “We are pleased the IHL Board approved the naming of Cochran Hall as a way to honor the Cochrans’ decades of service to Mississippi and the Senator’s specific support of MUW,” said Dr. Claudia A. Limbert, president. “We also are delighted to honor Miss Stark who has been a longtime benefactor and friend to MUW. The Stark Recreation Center will be a wonderful addition to our campus.” Originally built in 1908 to serve as a residence hall, Thad and Rose Cochran Hall is currently under renovation as part of the university’s 20-year Campus Master Plan. It is one of 23 campus buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The $4.7 million renovation project received notice to proceed in August 2003. One of the first steps in the renovation project was to temporarily place steel beams around the building to support the structure while the interior was gutted and rebuilt. Cochran Hall, which is slated for completion this spring, will house the Office of the Vice President for Student Services, Student Life, Residence Life, Career Services, Diversity Education and Programs and several student offices, such as the Student Government Association, the Student Programming Board and Hearin Leadership. In addition to these offices, the four-story building also will have two floors dedicated to meeting spaces. A member of the United States Senate since 1978, Cochran has been a proponent of quality education and a strong supporter of MUW. Through his assistance, MUW has received more than $1.7 million in congressionally-directed grants for campus emergency equipment, Plymouth Bluff Center programming and the creation of the Southern Women’s Institute. “This is an honor that is deeply appreciated,” Cochran said. “MUW has a long tradition of excellence, and to be closely identified with it warms my heart.” Stark, a 1933 MUW graduate, was the niece of Emma Ody Pohl, a popular physical education instructor at The W from 1907 until 1955. The Emma Ody Pohl Physical Education Assembly Building, which was built in 1976, was destroyed by a tornado in 2002. Two buildings, the Emma Ody Pohl Hall and the Marie Charlotte Stark University Recreation Center, will replace it. The groundbreakings for these facilities, also part of the university’s Campus Master Plan, were held during the spring 2004 semester. Construction on the Stark and Pohl buildings, totaling more than $13.1 million, will begin this spring with a projected 15 to 18 months for completion. Stark, formerly of Washington, D.C., designated money in her bequest to fund an indoor walking track in the recreation center and a connector between the Stark and Pohl buildings. In addition, Stark made a substantial commitment to increase the Pohl endowed chair in Health and Kinesiology to $1 million. She began her career with the Brooklyn Public Library in 1936. From 1937 to 1943, she was the assistant archivist with the Cataloging and War Department Archives Division and served from 1943 to 1947 as associate archivist with the War Production Board and assistant chief of the historical records section of the Civilian Production Administration. In 1947, she joined the International Monetary Fund where she held the position of chief archivist from 1952 until her retirement in 1979. She also served as an adjunct instructor at American University and as a consultant for the African Development Bank, the World Bank, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Stark was awarded an honorary doctorate from MUW in 2004 and also had received a MUW Medal of Excellence and an Alumni Achievement Award. MUW also will name the gym to be located in the Stark Recreation Center after Dr. Dorothy Burdeshaw and the current tennis facility after Dr. Barbara Garrett, retired professors from the Division of Health and Kinesiology. A faculty member at MUW from 1973 to 1994, Burdeshaw also served several administrative roles during her tenure including division head, athletic director and interim vice president for academic affairs. Garrett, who earned her undergraduate degree from The W in 1956, was a faculty member from 1967 to 1991. |
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