On Friday, October 23, Falk College Dean, Diane Lyden Murphy, along with students, faculty, and staff, will lead a special dedication ceremony to commemorate the opening of the new home of the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics. The event will take place at 2:00 p.m. directly in front of the courtyard linking MacNaughton and White Halls, which formerly housed the College of Law. The multi-phase transition from eight different main and off-campus locations began in January 2015 and will continue into 2016 when Falk College’s food studies and nutrition programs relocate to the complex. The final phase of the transition includes reconstruction of White Hall’s fifth floor for the commercial and experiential kitchens currently housed in Lyman Hall.

For the first time in the College’s history—which dates back to 1917 when the School of Home Economics began as a course in the College of Agriculture and the first nutrition course was taught—Falk College’s academic disciplines and administrative offices are housed in a central location. In 2011, Syracuse University alumni David B. and Rhonda S. Falk committed $15 million, a generous and visionary gift that renamed Falk College and supported the move to the new Falk Complex. Today Falk College is the alumni home to the Colleges of Agriculture, Home Economics, Human Development, Human Services and Health Professions, and Human Ecology and the Schools of Nursing and Social Work.

As part of the event celebration, the College’s newest Falk Endowed Professors will be introduced, including:

  • Alejandro Garcia, M.S.W., Ph.D., Jocelyn Falk Endowed Professor of Social Work
  • Jaipaul Roopnarine, Ph.D. , Pearl Falk Endowed Professor of Child and Family Studies
  • Rick Welsh, Ph.D., Falk Family Endowed Professor in Food Studies.

The dedication ceremony will be followed by a reception and student-led tours. At 3:15 p.m. the premiere of the documentary, David Falk: Agent of Change will be shown in Grant Auditorium. In a career spanning five decades, David Falk set the market for how all future sports stars would be compensated. His family’s generosity has endowed Falk College at Syracuse University and the Falk Academy for Management and Entrepreneurship at George Washington University Law School. This biographical documentary is narrated by Newhouse alumna, Mike Tirico ‘88, ESPN play-by-play commentator. Original music was composed for the film by William DiCosimo, assistant professor in the Setnor School of Music. Written, produced and directed by Falk sport management professor of practice, Dennis Deninger. For more information about the dedication and documentary, contact the Falk College Dean’s Office, 315-443-2027.

The Falk College Complex was renovated extensively, with generous support from many loyal Falk College alumni, parents, friends, faculty and staff. The facility includes technology upgrades to many classrooms, new computer labs, break-out study areas, a student lounge and on-site food services. A newly expanded Student Services suite includes a Meditation Room to support the holistic wellness of students, faculty and staff. A Nutrition Assessment, Consultation and Education (ACE) Center offers a hands-on learning laboratory to prepare students with traditional and emerging professional competencies critical to nutrition practice. It includes lecture halls, private consultation rooms, and a physical assessment room. A purposefully outfitted demonstration kitchen supports the Falk College’s new integrative nutrition curriculum, which uses food as medicine to support disease treatment. A generous and visionary gift from Falk College alumna, Rhoda Dearman Morrisroe ‘69, made the ACE Center possible.

The Milton Conrad Technology Lab doubles as a student classroom and computer lab that meets the latest programming trends in event and sport venue operations, and will provide students live game day production experiences. Students will train to operate live media events using equipment identical to what is found at major sport venues, such ribbon board and a scoreboard systems controller. Many students find that sales, and specifically ticket sales, offers an entry into careers in professional sports. The classroom features new technology and software to help students learn hands-on about ticketing. A business arrangement with the Carrier Dome will allow students to be hired and assist in ticketing. The Lab was made possible by a generous donation by Richard and Linda Ritholz whose son, Julian ’18, is currently a sport management major.

More than three years of planning went into the convergence of Falk College’s academic departments and its administrative offices. Key campus partners include the Offices of Campus Planning, Design and Construction, Physical Plant, and Purchasing. Additional project partners include Ashley McGraw Architects, The Hayner Hoyt Corporation, M/E Engineering, Day Automation, Charette Movers, and design partner Circle TPR.