Alumni Blog

After years of planning, President Stephen Sundborg, S.J. and the Center for Science and Innovation Task Force will host a ground-breaking ceremony on Thursday, May 30 to commemorate the important milestone of the start of construction. All Seattle U alumni are invited to the celebration, which will feature a community lunch where you can enjoy music, food, a photo booth and a VR tour of the new building.

Designed to be the new visual centerpiece of Seattle University, the Center for Science and Innovation (CSI) will be the cornerstone of the future of STEM on campus. The project aims to bring cross-disciplinary collaboration to students and faculty in a building designed to enhance learning, cultivate creativity and enrich understanding for the world’s next generation of leaders.

Construction for the new building will be completed in 2021 and will be accompanied by renovations to the two other College of Science and Engineering buildings. Once complete, the CSI will have 111,000 square feet of new space and will house labs, maker spaces, classrooms, offices and open-use areas.

Funding for the project, Seattle University’s largest ever, comes mostly from private donors and includes industry partners like Amazon, Microsoft and the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust. Recently announced, both Amazon and Microsoft have contributed $3 million and the Murdock Charitable Trust gifted $1.75 million, with all citing the importance of providing a space for our future STEM leaders to prepare for responsible and ethical leadership.

As part of their partnership, Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon Web Services, will join students for a fireside chat moderated by Roshanak Roshandel, PhD, associate professor and chair of the computer science department and an Amazon Scholar. Students will have the opportunity to exchange views on the future of computer science access to education and career opportunities in computer science, artificial intelligence and related fields.

“The Center for Science and Innovation is the boldest project that we’ve ever done,” says President Stephen Sundborg, S.J. “It represents the way our education is moving, which is to complement the humanities with our science programs.”

We hope you will join us for the groundbreaking ceremony.

Center for Science and Innovation Groundbreaking Ceremony
May 30, 2019
Program and groundbreaking: 11:30 a.m.
Lunch: 12:15 p.m.
Seattle University – Lower Mall

Registration is free.

Visit the CSI web page to take a virtual tour of the building and learn about this transformational addition to Seattle University.

We conclude this year’s Catholic Heritage Lectures with Greg Boyle, S.J., on Thursday, May 9 at 7 p.m. Fr. Greg is the founder of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, California, the largest gang intervention, rehabilitation, and re-entry program in the world. He comes to Seattle U to share riveting stories of what three decades of working with gang members in Los Angeles has taught him about faith, compassion and the enduring power of kinship.

In the face of unfavorable law enforcement tactics and criminal justice policies that encouraged suppression and mass incarceration, Fr. Greg sought a different approach to ending gang violence. He, alongside parish and community members, adopted what was a radical approach at the time: treating gang members as human beings.

In 1988, they started what would eventually become Homeboy Industries, an organization that employs and trains former gang members in a range of social enterprises to assist them in the transition back to a life without gang violence. At Homeboy Industries, thousands of young men and women seeking a better life walk through the door every year and are provided with critical services, resources and most importantly, hope.

Father Greg is the author of the 2010 New York Times-bestseller Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion. His 2017 book is the Los Angeles Times-bestseller Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship.

Fr. Greg has received the California Peace Prize and has been inducted into the California Hall of Fame. In 2014, the White House named Father Boyle a Champion of Change. He received the University of Notre Dame’s 2017 Laetare Medal, the oldest honor given to American Catholics.

Tickets are going quickly for Fr. Boyle’s visit. Register now to save your seat.

Catholic Heritage Lectures
Spiritual Practice and Working on the Margins

Thursday, May 9 | 7 p.m.
Pigott Auditorium, Seattle University
Registration is required.

Fr. Boyle is also speaking at Our Lady of Guadalupe parish on Wednesday, May 8 at 7 p.m. Tickets are available here.