Today represents a momentous milestone in the Broad College’s journey to being a top-of-mind business school. And for me personally, it marks a day when a vision has truly become a reality.

Our vision was to create the spaces that would deliver an exceptional student experience—not only the kind of experience that every Broad student deserves but one that would also inspire them to reach their highest potential. Our vision was to create the spaces to match what corporate America is heavily investing in to recruit and retain the best talent and to spur their creativity and entrepreneurial spirit.

Building the future of business

We designed and built a facility that is 100% devoted to teaching, learning and student support. From the moment you enter the Minskoff Pavilion, you can see how all of the spaces are intended to provide collaboration.

There are team rooms and classrooms that have been designed to facilitate collaboration. We have student lounges that we have never had before, that allow students to be able to get together in a really nice way.

We created an entrepreneurship lab and a team lab that allow hands-on, experiential learning to take place. This hands-on approach is the best way for students to understand and learn by doing.

Students filled the grand staircase for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

We created a career management space that, for the first time, allows us to bring both undergraduate and graduate career services together under one roof. This is very powerful for our employers and our students to be able to interact in that space.

Finally, we designed and built all of these spaces with technology and sustainability in mind.

All in all, we did this to deliver an exceptional student experience.

I have been completely surprised by how effortlessly the students have moved into their new home and how they are using the space as if it has always been here. The students found the space before it was officially open and have settled in immediately, with ease.

I think that speaks volumes for how well the architects have been able to anticipate what our students need and incorporate that into the building design so that our students could seamlessly transition into using this wonderful space.

Giving thanks to our project supporters and partners

The Minskoff Pavilion has about 100,000 square feet of covered space. With this addition, we are now able to host about 85% of all Broad undergraduate courses and nearly 100% of all graduate courses in the Business College Complex.

The Edward J. Minskoff Pavilion is a 100,000 square-foot student-focused building where Spartans Will change the future of business.

This building was a $62 million project. I am very proud to state that we completed it ahead of schedule, on budget and fully funded by more than 1,700 Broad Spartan alumni and friends.

This project inspired many first-time gifts, gifts of a lifetime and stretch gifts. To each one of you, please know we sincerely thank you!

The important part that I hope you are able to take away is that these investments are not just in the physical building, but in the future of business education and the experience of many generations of Spartans to come.

There is one person who deserves a very special thank-you—without his extraordinary generosity, we would not have reached this milestone—and that is Edward J. Minskoff. Mr. Minskoff’s commitment of a $30 million gift toward this project is the largest single gift in MSU’s 164-year history. His gift has not only had a huge impact on the Broad College but has also impacted the way we think about student learning spaces on our campus. He has essentially transformed MSU’s landscape forever.

A project like this doesn’t happen without teamwork, and there were lots of members of this team that have made the Minskoff Pavilion project possible. I would like to thank the people who were pivotal in making this project happen:

Thank you to the designers and staff from LMN Architects and Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr & Huber; they couldn’t have been better partners in understanding our needs, understanding the students’ needs and really bringing the project to life. Thank you to the construction managers and staff from Clark Construction and the dedicated MSU Infrastructure Planning Facilities team. The entire Development team within the Broad College deserves a special thank-you, as well as the Broad College faculty and staff who have been involved in the project. I would also like to personally thank my family for enduring this project, which required much of my time over the past six years. The Minskoff Pavilion could not have become a reality without the support of these people.

I am so thrilled to share this significant moment with each and every one of you. We are enthusiastic about the opportunities that the Broad College and MSU will have going forward.

You can relive the ribbon-cutting celebration by watching the highlight video below, the full livestream of the event, and by viewing more of the stunning photographs here.