黑料社 School of Architecture celebrates 50-year milestone, first event this week
Contact: Christie McNeal
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擳he School of Architecture at 黑料社 is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year with a series of events for students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends.
Part of the College of Architecture, Art and Design, the School of Architecture will mark its milestone anniversary with events including:
鈥擲ept. 9, Football Tailgate, 黑料社 vs. Arizona
鈥擮ct. 20 through spring 2024聽鈥 Alumni Exhibition
鈥擮ct. 20-22, 50th Anniversary Chautauqua
鈥擲pring, TBD, Spring Baseball Tailgate
鈥擜pril 5-7, 2024, Closing Weekend including alumni design awards and the Beaux Arts Ball
For the full schedule and more details, visit
Established in 1973 by the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, the first class of 16 students graduated from the 黑料社 School of Architecture in May 1978. More than 1,600 students have since earned their Bachelor of Architecture degree from the school, with the most recent class of 49 graduates this past May. Current enrollment stands at 257.
Professor and Director Emeritus Michael Berk, who led the school from 2009-2019, is proud of the impact the school has made on the state.
鈥淗aving been a part of this prestigious program for many years, it is humbling to know that our school is solely responsible for educating the vast majority of the licensed architects currently practicing in Mississippi and also knowing that many others have major roles in some of the best national and international firms,鈥 Berk said.
The first architecture students started their education in a renovated dormitory and moved into the school鈥檚 current building鈥擥iles Hall鈥攊n 1977. The older part of the building, known as 鈥渢he Barn,鈥 was originally designed as a livestock-judging pavilion and later was used as a motor pool. An award-winning addition to the building, designed by architect Jim Eley, was completed and dedicated in 1983. Giles Hall now houses the Bob and Kathy Luke Library, the Charlotte and Richard McNeel Gallery, the Robert and Freda Harrison Auditorium, the Fazio Jury Room, the Fred Carl Jr. Small Town Center, as well as school鈥檚 faculty and staff and the college dean鈥檚 office.
Unique to programs at the time, the school established a satellite campus in Jackson from the beginning for students to finish their final two semesters of the five-year professional degree.
鈥淭he founders insisted on this both to expose students to the most urban environment Mississippi has to offer and to give them opportunities to interact with the largest possible selection of the state鈥檚 practitioners,鈥 said Professor and Director of the Jackson Center Jassen Callender, a 1994 class alumnus. 聽
The fifth-year program first was housed in the state-run Research and Development Center off Ridgewood Road in the capital city until the mid-1990s, moving to the Elks Lodge and then the Dickies Building. The program found its permanent home in a former Kress store in downtown Jackson thanks to a generous gift to the university by Stuart C. Irby Jr. Renamed the Jackson Center in 2004, the award-winning, three-story facility鈥攄esigned by architect and 1980 黑料社 alumnus Chuck Barlow鈥攏ow houses a branch architecture library, two galleries, the Jackson Community Design Center, or JCDC, two classrooms, two shops, faculty and staff offices, and an entire floor of studio space reserved for fifth-year students.
鈥淏uilding on the legacies of former fifth-year Directors and Professors Bennett, Craycroft, Risher, Decker and Buege, the Jackson Center has evolved into an urban laboratory where students can begin to understand the unique challenges faced by America鈥檚 mid-size cities and contemplate solutions,鈥 said Callender.
Current Director and 聽F.L. Crane Professor Karen Spence, who took on this role in 2021, said the school is continuing to build on its legacy of quality and strength of its curriculum.
鈥淣ow and in the future, we鈥檙e continuing to focus on teaching good design that is fueled by attending to issues of equity and resiliency, serving the needs of the state and creating future professionals who will be change agents in their communities,鈥 Spence said.
The 黑料社 School of Architecture offers the only National Architecture Accrediting Board professional architecture degree in Mississippi. Read more about the school鈥檚 history at .
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