The Falk Complex was officially dedicated as the centralized location of the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics on Friday.

Syracuse University’s Falk College did not previously have its offices and classrooms in one part of campus. The dean’s offices were located at 119 Euclid Ave., while the rest of the college was “scattered to the winds in seven other locations,” said Dean Diane Lyden Murphy.

“Today is a dream realized — it’s the result of a shared vision that started more than three years ago,” Murphy said.

The Falk Complex is located at MacNaughton and White Halls, which formerly housed the university’s law school.

During the moving process, 132 people collectively packed and unpacked 7,200 boxes, Murphy said, but the move is not done yet. She said the move will continue into early 2016 and complete with teaching kitchens and a café on the fifth floor of White Hall.

Murphy acknowledged all the donors who contributed to the establishment of the complex, and student ambassadors gave them gifts as their names were called out. The donors named different parts of the complex.

Chancellor Kent Syverud said Falk College is home to some of the university’s oldest and most innovative programs, but it had the problem of its physical spaces not matching the excellence of its programs. In the new complex, there are spaces for collaboration and innovation for faculty and students, he said.

Syverud asked the ceremony attendees to turn around and look at the view from Falk College.

“You will see a Falk College that is not scattered all over the place, but is centrally looking at the heart of the campus, which is where Falk College belongs,” he said.

David Falk, an SU alumnus, trustee and benefactor, said there was a lot of talent in the audience at the ceremony.

“In the world of sports, as we all know, there isn’t success because of one person — there’s success because of the collective efforts of everyone,” Falk said. “Today represents the collective effort of a lot of people who worked really, really hard, and had a vision and got through a lot of obstacles in the way.”

Murphy was surprised near the end of the ceremony when the newly established Dean Diane Lyden Murphy Endowed Scholarship was announced by Brandon Steiner, chair of the Department of Sport Management Advisory Board, and Corey Schneider, chair of the Falk College Board of Visitors.

As dean of Falk College, Murphy established a college research center and launched several undergraduate majors, minors and several graduate programs, Schneider said.

“She is one of the main reasons the Falk College now has that new home, where it can have its academic programs, students, faculty and staff all under the same roof for the first time ever,” Schneider said.

Steiner called Murphy a “rock star” and said the scholarship was established with the purpose of giving financial assistance to students who need it the most.

The ceremony was followed by an open house, during which people had the opportunity to explore the complex, as well as a screening of the documentary “David Falk: Agent of Change” in Grant Auditorium.

Published on October 25, 2015 at 10:38 pm

Contact Rawan: rashoor@syr.edu