Friday, May 10, marked the unofficial sendoff for Emory T. Clark Hall, the College of Nursing’s home since 1982. Although there will be summer graduate classes in the building and faculty and staff will continue to work there until David A. Straz, Jr. Hall is ready for move-in, the last academic year in the building has come and gone.
Over the last four decades, thousands of Marquette Nurses have been educated in hundreds of thousands of class sessions. The memories created in Clark Hall have left an impression on the college community that will last long after the last office has been cleared out. Below are some of our faculty’s, staff’s, student’s and alumni’s favorite memories of their soon-to-be-former academic building.
Alyssa Bobo
Marquette Nursing Alumna Class of 2019
There were so many beautiful and difficult memories of Clark Hall. As a DE MSN student (cohort 5!!), the days were long. From the open house tour to my final exam in Clark Hall, I grew immensely as a person. I’m remembering the warm embrace of Kit Stevic during our nursing ethics class. Kit shared an emotionally moving video on social disparities with kids lined up in a field…take a step forward if you had shelter, take a step forward if you had a warm meal, etc. The visual representation on how we all don’t have the same resources in life brought tears to the classroom. A Marquette Nurse is the difference and my education rooted in Clark Hall will forever be with me. I am honored to be a MU RN with a lens for social justice and healing.
Dr. Madeline Schmidt
Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Programs
As a student here in the BSN program from 1997-2001, I can still remember having class in classrooms 117. Maureen O’Brien (former faculty) taught my pediatrics class in here. I can even picture where I sat in the back of the room. Teaching in that classroom always brings back memories. I also remember the “old sim lab” where the beds were pulled out from the walls and we could only practice on each other because there were no mannequins. Those were the good ol’ days!
Becky Burzynski
Marquette Nursing Alumna Class of 1985
Clark Hall was new when I went to school there, so the trees surrounding the building were so small. We were excited about the sim lab. Sister Rosalie Klein and Dr. Olson ran the lab. I also had a work study job in that building. So many fond memories!
Laura Ferguson
Marquette Nursing Alumna Class of 2008
I can remember the professors more than I can remember the building itself. The room that stands out the most to me was the big lecture hall in the basement. I can remember the hallway where all of our wonderful professors had their office space. I can remember the sim lab and being terrified of it. Now I love sim labs and have been a critical care nurse for the past 16 years thanks to the phenomenal foundation in nursing I received from Marquette!
Ashley Green
Marquette Nursing Alumna Class of 2024
My favorite memories in Clark Hall were all the times I was in the lounge with friends before class. Being able to study together down there or just have a space to decompress during the week was always nice! Another favorite memory is when I spoke on a panel in the lounge for Project BEYOND-2 during their summer intensive for freshman nursing students!
Yvonne Briski Wiorek
Marquette Nursing Alumna
I was a member of the first freshman class to attend Marquette College of Nursing at Clark Hall in 1982. I have so many memories of my four years there, but my best memories are of all the time I spent hanging out on the curvy couch in the basement student lounge with my friends, Ann and Pat. We were commuters, so the lounge was where we spent our time when we weren’t in class or clinicals. One of our instructors joked that he was going to post a plaque there in our memory because he would see at least one of us in the lounge whenever he came down to use the vending machines. Such good times.
Dr. Chrystal Craft
Adjunct Faculty
I grew into my adulthood here. I walked in for the first time as a prospective student and left as faculty. This building held me up while I scoured PowerPoints and took exams. It welcomed me as I felt the biggest bout of imposter syndrome, standing across from where I used to sit, teaching a class in which I had been a student only a few years prior. It heard me talk about the guy who took me out for a drink, who soon became someone worth staying up late with the night before a 4 a.m. alarm for clinicals. It also heard me talk about our wedding plans. I carried both of our babies here. I researched cribs and car seats in between raising my hand to answer questions during my first pregnancy. This building helped me realize how far I’d come as a second time mom as I navigated teaching lectures and feeding schedules. When the College of Nursing moves, Clark Hall will remain a building block of my foundation.
Dr. Dawn Gubanc-Anderson
Marquette Nursing Class of 1988
Standing so proudly in front of the school emblem in my cap and gown for a graduation picture!
Lauren Sundberg
Marquette Nursing Student
My favorite memory in Clark Hall was touring it my senior year of high school. I knew from that day that I wanted to be a Marquette Nurse. I’ve met so many wonderful people in Clark Hall during my freshman year of college and now some of them are my roommates. Another favorite memory in Clark Hall was getting to go to the simulation lab for the first time during sophomore year and learning how to apply my skills which I learned during the lecture portion of classes.
Cindy Snyder
Marquette Nursing Alumna
I met one of my best friends (Molly Nogalski) in the lobby before class. We were both looking lost and friendless as we waited to go into our first day of “Intro to Nursing.” I would never have gotten through nursing school without her friendship and support!
Crissy Tud
Mentor/Adviser Specialist
I’ve walked through Clark Hall as a prospective student, nursing student, graduate and now a staff member. These rooms are where I’ve spent some of my most challenging years, but also where I’ve met some of my most valued lifelong friends!
Dawn Konop-Sage
Marquette Nursing Alumna
I remember seeing the class pictures on the staircase going down and thinking I couldn’t wait to be in one of those frames! I spent so much time next to the mailboxes in the basement studying while sitting on orange and brown chairs. I remember being the president of MUSNA and trying to go through boxes of previous years’ contributions in the tiniest closet, jam-packed with pictures and clothing from previous sales! Full of treasures!
Dr. Kelli Jones
Clinical Assistant Professor
I remember spending time with friends in the basement as a nursing student (BSN Grad 1995). Every student had a mailbox (which was really just a set of cubby holes); there were only about 90 students at the time. Things have definitely changed! You’ll see above this reflection a picture of three former nursing students that are now nursing professors in that same (updated) basement: Associate Professor Dr. Aimee Woda, Professor and Acting Assistant Dean Dr. Karen Robinson, and me!
