Renovations and construction begin on Lemonis Center for Student Success

With spaces cleared and abatement work nearly complete in Memorial Library, construction and renovation work officially got underway this week for what will become the Lemonis Center for Student Success. Upon completion in 2024, Marquette will rename Memorial Library to the Lemonis Center for Student Success in recognition of alumnus Marcus Lemonis and his wife Bobbi’s $15 million gift toward the effort.

Going forward, the newly named Lemonis Center will serve as a central hub for a campuswide network of academic resources and offices dedicated to student success, as well as student study and tutoring spaces, and it will continue to house the library’s collection of books and reference materials.

Interior renovation work will occur throughout the summer on the second, third and fourth floors of the Memorial Library space. Access to the stacks will remain available; however, summer library users should expect noise and other disruptions. Exterior demolition and construction on the building’s northern façade will start later this summer.

Interior renovation work will occur throughout the summer on the second, third and fourth floors of Memorial Library. Access to the stacks will remain available.


The Lemonis Center: programming ‘from first day to first destination’

Centrally located and highly visible, the Lemonis Center for Student Success will provide wraparound services for students across all majors, academic abilities, and backgrounds to enrich and expand student opportunities from the moment they step on campus until they graduate. Building on Marquette’s Catholic, Jesuit tradition, the Lemonis Center will help students engage in thoughtful discernment that is infused in Ignatian education, emphasizing a deep sense of connection and meaningful engagement.

The Lemonis Center for Student Success will contribute to Marquette’s student success strategy of building a culture of mentorship and engagement “from first day to first destination.” To that end, the center will house seven “anchor programs” to provide support for students at each stage in their journey:

  1. Career Services Center
  2. A new Academic Help Desk
  3. Tutoring via the Office of Student Educational Services
  4. Academic coaching via the Office of Student Educational Services
  5. An experiential learning hub to coordinate and support efforts across campus
  6. A satellite location for the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion
  7. Mindfulness, wellness and peer mentoring programs

The Lemonis Center’s design and layout will make it flexible enough to provide satellite space for other student support areas, such as the Office of Disability Services or programming to support the future Wellness + Recreation facility. The center also provides flexible open spaces for students to gather and study.

Work in Raynor Library, which is targeted for completion in August, will largely consolidate service desks into a more open, welcoming station on the first floor.


Upgrades coming to Raynor Library

Concurrent to the Lemonis Center project, crews will also begin reconfigurations to the lower, first and second floors of Raynor Library. This work, which is targeted for completion in August, will largely consolidate service desks into a more open, welcoming station on the first floor and include other shifts, such as digital scholarship services moving to the first floor. Additionally, the IT Services Help Desk will relocate to Raynor from Cudahy Hall. Users should expect noise and other disruptions during this time.

Exterior demolition and construction on Memorial Library’s northern façade will start later this summer.


More about the Lemonis Center for Student Success

President Lovell in 2021 announced a new Student Success Initiative as one of the university’s top strategic priorities. To enhance and scale Marquette’s efforts to drive this priority forward in the most visible way possible, alumnus Marcus Lemonis, star of HGTV’s The Renovator, CNBC’s The Profit and chairman and CEO of Camping World, and his wife Bobbi, donated $15 million to create the Lemonis Center for Student Success.

“Ultimately, this transformational facility upgrade will drive Marquette to fully reimagine student success into a physical space that will serve as a new home for comprehensive support services,” President Lovell says. “The Lemonis Center for Student Success will build on Marquette’s Catholic, Jesuit tradition by helping students engage in thoughtful discernment that is infused in Ignatian education, emphasizing a deep sense of connection and meaningful engagement.”

Student health, wellness important to success

The Lemonis Center is one of two current capital projects dedicated to student well-being. Construction is also underway for Marquette to fully reimagine the Helfaer Tennis Stadium and Recreation Center on the southwestern edge of campus as a comprehensive Wellness + Recreation facility. When completed in late 2024, it will bring together campus fitness and recreation facilities with the Counseling Center and the Marquette University Medical Clinic — centralizing student services that are currently dispersed across campus.

“We cannot overlook that our students’ health and wellness is important to their success,” President Lovell said at the address.

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