Mercer University announced Friday that work on a new student center will begin in 2027 in the place of Connell Student Center, which will be demolished this summer. The CSC, which was built in 1957 on the perimeter of the Historic Quad, will be officially shuttered on May 15, according to a press release.
The new building will be part of a years-long, “Building for BEARS” project that will effectively replace the existing building with a newer facility. The acronym, a favorite rhetorical device of President Penny Elkins, stands for belong, engage, aspire, relax and savor.
While no final date for the project was included in the press release, the facility will replace the Fresh Food Co. dining space and other office spaces once completed.
A request for information on how or if the campus’ largest dining service will be replaced in the fall did not immediately get a response from a University spokesperson.
While the Board of Trustees officially approved the years-long project just this week, survey teams, contractors and utility markings have been seen around the building in recent weeks.
The CSC houses offices for Campus Life, Student Affairs, Housing and Residence Life, TRIO Programs and other offices for student organizations. The Mercer Cluster's office, located on the second floor of the student center, will also be displaced by the demolition.
Some administrative offices will find a new home in the Reg Murphy Center for Collaborative Journalism, which is located in Mercer Village. The Telegraph, which has been housed in the Murphy Center since it opened in 2012, will move out of the building, opening space for Mercer offices.
Housing and Residence Life’s footprint will be strewn across campus. Its main office will reside in an unused Greek house while its area coordinators will have offices in residence halls.
The University also announced Friday the $400 million medical school campus will be named after former President William Underwood, who is currently teaching at Mercer’s School of Law as the Tommy Malone Distinguished Chair in Trial Advocacy.
Underwood and his wife, Lesli, will also have their names attached to the newly created Bill and Lesli Center for Global Impact.
Gabriel Kopp '26 is double majoring in Journalism and Law and Public Policy at Mercer University. He has written for The Cluster since he started at Mercer, and currently works as editor-in-chief. When he isn't completing a Washington Post crossword, he enjoys going for runs around Macon and reading The New York Times or the AJC while sipping coffee.
