Capital Initiatives

• Beverley Taylor Sorenson Arts and Education Complex
• The Colonnade at the U of U
• Huntsman Cancer Hospital Phase II-B
• New Media Wing in the College of Fine Arts
• College of Nursing Building Renovation
• College of Pharmacy
• College of Science
• Student Housing
• Student Life Center
• The James L. Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology Building - USTAR
• Utah Museum of Natural History at the Rio Tinto Center

The Student Life Center

The Student Life Center plays an integral role in the vision for the University of Utah as a living and learning community. Located at the heart of campus, to the west of the George S. Eccles 2002 Legacy Bridge and adjacent to student housing, the Student Life Center will be the hub for campus social life where students connect with other students as well as faculty and staff from throughout campus. These connections are integral to a vibrant academic and social life at the University as students make meaningful friendships that extend beyond the classroom and into the very fabric of their lives as students and alumni of the University of Utah.

Currently, the primary campus recreation facility is the 69-year-old Einar Nielsen Field House. Located north of Rice-Eccles Stadium, the Field House was constructed when the student population consisted of just 7,700 students versus the nearly 30,000 students at the U today. It was intended to serve just 400 people per day but now serves as many as 1,500 per day. With a 5,000 person capacity, the new Center will have the ability to handle the 100% to 900% increase in participation seen at other universities.

The Field House has served us well over the past 69 years, however it no longer meets the needs of a modern university campus. The Student Life Center will have far greater impact than the traditional recreational facility. Data from other universities show that student participants are more successful than their non-participating peers in key academic indicators, for instance, student participants:

• have higher GPAs than non-participants—even if they started out with lower GPAs than non-participants
• have higher retention rates than non-participants
• complete more credit hours than non-participants
• achieve a higher GPA when participating twice per week versus non-participants

The Student Life Center resides at the very core of the University of Utah’s mission to promote positive lifestyle choices, build a thriving academic community and attract excellence in students and faculty. To learn more about how your gifts can support the Student Life Center, please contact Erica Marken at (801) 581-8388 or erica.marken@utah.edu.

"The Student Life Center will become the absolute centerpiece of campus. At the heart of campus, it will be a home away for home for our students…a place for rest, recreation, social life, celebration."