UWG holds groundbreaking ceremony for new Roy Richards Senior Hall

UWG held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Roy Richards Senior Hall on Friday, Oct. 18, which will be the new UWG College of Business building in 2021. This building will welcome in a new era of innovation with all inclusive state of the art and collaborative classrooms, new teaching spaces and a professional business hub and common spaces. 

The UWG Foundation has received gifts and pledges of $5.65 million toward the building of Roy Richards Sr. Hall and $1.7 million in funding from Gov. Nathan Deal. The new building will be located near the junction of Maple Street and University Drive. They hope to be done with construction and be open to students in 2021. 

The Richards College of Business has bestowed over 15,000 degrees since it opened. Faye McIntyre, Dean of the Richards College of Business, is hopeful that this new building will bring new opportunities for students who wish to earn a business degree. Roy Richards Sr. Hall is being designed to unite both Business and Business Education and encourage collaboration between graduate and undergraduate students. 

“I have felt honored to be asked to be on the building committee,” said Richard Dobbs, an MBA student at UWG. “I have gained a great deal of experience being a part of this opportunity and even though I will no longer be a student here to experience this new building, I have felt honored.” 

Many gathered for this new beginning to be in support of UWG and its future. Southwire was a large part of the groundbreaking ceremony. In 1950 Richards Sr created Southwire and it currently has over 300 employees who are UWG graduates, and currently over 90 students work as interns there. The relationship between Southwire and UWG business began over nine decades ago. Southwire’s Honors Business Program with UWG has given many students the opportunity to learn and grow in their degree. Jim Richards, Roy Richards’ son, was at the ceremony and spoke on his father’s accomplishments and relationship with UWG. 

 “It is a pleasure for us to have this great hall named after our father,” said Richards. “Southwire is the business it is today because of UWG.” 

UWG and the community broke ground to begin this new era. Each attendee got the chance to see a replica of the new building and a free cookie, which had a photo of the new Roy Richards Sr. Hall on it. Many alumni visiting for Homecoming were able to take part in watching this ceremony and hearing about what UWG is preparing for their Business students.  

“All of this would not have been possible without the help of donations and funding,” said McIntyre. “We are excited to begin making our vision a reality.”