The new Dr. E. J. and Margaret O’Brien Hall is now open to students of Marquette’s College of Business Administration for the spring 2023 semester.
The $60 million building was built on on the site of the old McCormick Hall dormitory. It is the university’s largest fully donor-funded construction project.
Our news partners at TMJ4 News also checked out the amenities at the new hall, including the Baird Applied Investment Management Lab. The lab simulates a New York-style trading floor with real-time stock and business news.
It’s proved an immediate hit with business students, including accounting major Gabe Dally, who says it’s better than their previous building.
“There are windows everywhere, you have these beautiful white lights, and big open areas with lot of wood and everything in between,” Dally said. “I think that’s just exciting. It’s a great atmosphere to learn in.”
Keyes Dean of Business Administration Tim Hanley said the opening of the building has been a long time coming and is a big step forward for the university.
“We tried to build this incredibly innovative facility with our students in mind, how our instructors teach them, how they use the safe,” Hanley said. “Our previous building that I attended back in the 70s was designed for a different era. This is designed for how we do things today.”
Dally echoed Hanley about the impact on student morale even in just the first few days at O’Brien Hall.
“It’s another reason to look forward to class,” he said. “Going from somewhere gloomy and quite disheartening to something that is lively. Somewhere that you can hear the cafe, you can see the TV’s. You got everything, and I think that’s an exciting part of the new university experience.”
You can check out some photos of O’Brien Hall from the WTMJ News Team below:
