Significant pre-construction activity is underway relative to the STEM@DRAKE project. At the Holiday Breakfast on Thursday, members of the campus community saw the latest building renderings and floor plans. There is excitement and appreciation for the inclusion of gender-neutral bathrooms and dedicated lactation rooms in both buildings.

Members of Drake’s Grounds Department—Aaron Harpold and Jeff Bosworth —were on hand to discuss how the project will affect trees. Attendees voted on the type of trees they would like to see planted as part of the effort to replace nearly double the number of trees that will be lost during construction. While removing trees is a difficult reality of construction, tremendous effort is being dedicated to a tree plan that will ensure both replacement and reclamation as part of the project. Watch for more details in coming weeks on this and other aspects of the STEM@DRAKE project.

 —Submitted by Venessa Macro, Chief Administration Officer