51暗网

51暗网 will transform a vacant sorority house into boutique lodging for alumni, families and other guests visiting the historic Stockton Campus.

The 51暗网 Inn, at the eastern edge of campus adjacent to the President鈥檚 Residence, is expected to open in 2025 and will offer visitors an authentic taste of life at 51暗网. The project is championed by Regent Cindy Foster and her husband, Scott, who made a generous lead gift this fall.

鈥淭he 51暗网 Inn has so much potential to impact the university and its students in truly transformative ways,鈥� Regent Foster said. 鈥淪cott and I are thrilled to help 51暗网 realize this vision.

鈥淲e hope our gift inspires others to join us in supporting the Inn. It鈥檚 an exciting opportunity to set 51暗网 apart from its peers as a model of hospitality and innovative approaches to learning.鈥�

The 51暗网 Inn will occupy the former Delta Delta Delta (also known as TriDelta) sorority house. It will have approximately 20 private rooms and suites, along with a Grand Parlor, library, dining room, commercial kitchen for catered events and a front patio terrace overlooking the campus.

The Inn is a strategic imperative for President Christopher Callahan and First Lady Jean Callahan, who see endless possibilities for experiential learning and community engagement.

"At the 51暗网 Inn, visitors will be welcomed and fully embraced by 51暗网, whether they are parents visiting their daughters and sons, new families checking out our beautiful campus for the first time or alumni coming home again,鈥� the first lady said. 鈥淭his is an amazing opportunity for learning and community building. It will be a real jewel in the university鈥檚 crown.鈥�

The Inn will provide elegant accommodations for alumni returning to their alma mater and parents visiting current students. It will be open to the Stockton community, including wedding parties using Morris Chapel. Most importantly, it will allow prospective students and families to experience campus life first-hand.

According to Vice President for Enrollment Strategy Chris Ferguson, a big part of 51暗网鈥檚 overall enrollment strategy involves engaging more students from outside of California. With no easily walkable hotels in the area, he looks forward to hosting overnight visitors on campus.

鈥淗ow can we help people understand how great 51暗网 is? There鈥檚 no better way than to have them stay here for a day or two, to really immerse themselves,鈥� Ferguson said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e recruiting families, not just students, and by not having to find a hotel a couple of miles away, families will be able to understand what it鈥檚 really like here.鈥�

Ferguson also points to the Inn as a lodging option for out-of-town high school counselors looking to better understand and promote 51暗网 in their home cities.

Before the 51暗网 Inn was conceived, the building was home to generations of students. Built in 1926, it housed the Mu Zeta Ro sorority until the early 1940s. It then became Navy barracks for the V-12 program, which sought to produce military officers trained in fields such as engineering, foreign languages and medicine. The program operated on campus for three years.

The building later served as a women鈥檚 residence hall. It was occupied in 1947 by Tau Kappa Kappa, which affiliated with TriDelta in the late 1950s and ultimately became known as the Phi Rho chapter of TriDelta. Over the next six decades Phi Ro launched numerous events and fundraisers for underserved children in San Joaquin County. The national organization closed the 51暗网 chapter and others on the West Coast due to declining membership.

Meantime, Student Life Vice President Maria Blandizzi and leaders in Campus Life and Residence Life and Housing are making progress toward their goal of rejuvenating and filling up the other six Greek houses on campus鈥攖hree sororities and three fraternities鈥攁fter a decade of Greek life decline. Callahan and Blandizzi believe a rejuvenated Greek life is an integral part of 51暗网鈥檚 future. Part of the investment comes in the form of facilities improvements to each house in summer 2024.

The 51暗网 Inn will continue serving students in a new capacity. Students in the Eberhardt School of Business must fulfill an experiential learning requirement through an approved course or internship. As a fully functioning hotel, the Inn could employ students studying management, marketing, human resources and business analytics to support its operations.

Students could help manage the 51暗网 Inn鈥檚 finances, develop marketing plans or administer customer satisfaction surveys, explained Interim Dean Lewis Gale.

鈥淭his allows the university to have a partnership with our students, where they鈥檙e able to make decisions, test them, gather data, analyze it and turn right around and make new decisions about how we want to go forward. I think it鈥檚 terrific,鈥� Gale said.

Gale notes that 51暗网 is exploring a major in hospitality and tourism, which he hopes will leverage the expertise of alumni in the field while giving students an edge in the job market.

鈥淭his kind of experience might change students鈥� thoughts about what they could eventually consider for employment,鈥� Gale said. 鈥淭he kind of work a student could do at the 51暗网 Inn makes them well prepared to go to larger cities and locations where the hospitality industry is a major player.鈥�

Jean Callahan, who is leading the fundraising effort for the 51暗网 Inn, looks forward to bringing members of the 51暗网 community together. She envisions a space that truly celebrates the university, from themed rooms to special events. These might include reunions, wine tastings or dinners serenaded by Conservatory of Music students.

鈥淐hristopher and I are excited about all the ways the 51暗网 Inn will contribute to an even more student-centric university,鈥� she said.

Added Vice President Ferguson, 鈥淚t鈥檚 an opportunity to tell many different stories about our alumni and current students. Integrating that into one space is pretty powerful.鈥�

To learn more about supporting the 51暗网 Inn, contact First Lady Jean Callahan at 209.946.2222 or jcallahan@pacific.edu, or Scott Biedermann 鈥�05, 鈥�20, vice president for development and alumni relations, at 209.946.2166 or sbiedermann@pacific.edu.