By John Ostapowicz / The Jambar
Youngstown State University launched Kilcawley: Centered on the Future, a campaign to raise funds for a new student center.
The event was hosted in the Chestnut Room on Nov. 12, where several renderings of the projected layouts and room renovations were showcased.
Scott Schulick, a former YSU alumnus and trustee, kicked off the fundraising efforts with a $100,000 donation. In honor of Schulick’s contribution, the Student Government Association suite will be named after him.
Schulick was also appointed as chairperson of the campaign by YSU President Bill Johnson. He said his involvement as head of the fundraising initiative seems fitting, being a former student employee and member of SGA.
“I got involved in this campaign because President [Johnson] asked me to take on this leadership role and I was happy to do so,” Schulick said. “It’s a space that means a lot to me.”
Paul McFadden, president of the YSU Foundation, announced that over $300,000 in donations have been collected since the initiative was announced. McFadden also highlighted the previous $100,000 contribution from Johnson and first lady LeeAnn Johnson in January, as well as a $150,000 pledge from Youngstown’s Premier Bank in October.
In total, $6 million in donations have been committed to the overall renovation cost of the student center. In order to start the estimated $43 million project, more donations are required.
Johnson said he’s seen an increase in contributions from YSU alumni.
“[Alumni] understand that Youngstown State University is critical to the economic, social and social survivability of Northeast Ohio,” Johnson said. “So goes this university, so goes our region.”
Johnson said the plan to continue YSU’s increase in enrollment is to renovate Kilcawley Center, which hasn’t been updated since it opened in 1965.
“When [students] come [to YSU], they see a 1960s vintage building, it forces them to look backwards. We want to be looking forwards and we want to give them a vision of what can be,” Johnson said.
Terin Frodyma, a graduate student in professional communication, was selected as a student-athlete representative on the steering committee to help gauge ideas for the new student center.
Frodyma said being one of the youngest members on the committee made him unsure if his opinions would be heard or taken into consideration.
“The first day I was there, I was already giving [the committee] some ideas that I saw, and they took it and ran with it,” Frodyma said.
The project itself is a community-centered initiative. Frodyma said several of the new ideas, such as the concept of natural light and a bigger atrium, were suggested by students. Those suggestions and several others were taken into consideration for the new student center.
“A lot of the instrumentation of the project has been so crucial to the final product that we’re putting out. It’s largely in part to those students that have boots on the ground and walk through life every day here,” Frodyma said. “[Students] really get to see what it is we need and what we’re going to benefit most from the new student center.”
Another recommendation for the new student center is a centralized eating location. In the current Kilcawley Center layout, dining locations are spread throughout the building. In the renovation, the hope is that a generalized dining area will help strengthen student-to-student communication.
The phased renovation project for the new student center is expected to begin May 2025.
