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Opening of Rita Atkinson Residences

September 9, 2010

 

  • Welcome everyone. What a spectacular day and spectacular building.
  • And it was completed nearly a year early!
  • That just goes to show that we truly do “achieve the extraordinary” at UC San Diego, which is the theme of our 50th anniversary celebration this year.
  • And I can’t think of a more fitting way to start our anniversary celebration than by opening our newest student housing.
  • To give you some perspective, our first housing project (Coast Apartments) opened in 1964 and housed just over 160 students.

    • Today, with the opening of these new units, the campus will house more than 12,500 students, staff, faculty and dependants.
  • We know how important housing is to our students.

    • In fact, in the Graduate Student Satisfaction Survey, students specifically asked for more housing and they said it needed to be affordable.
    • At a rental rate of $453 – per person, per month – in a two-bedroom furnished apartment in this beautiful project, I think we can safely say we met and exceeded that goal.
  • We also far surpassed our Long Range Development Plan goal to house 50 percent of our graduate and professional students by 2020. Now, with these units, we’re able to house 54 percent.

    • And we can now offer our graduate and professional students a two-year, front-end guarantee of housing.
  • Just as we understand how important housing is to our students, we also understand how important our graduate students are to the university and our community.

    • They play a key role in helping the university maintain its stellar reputation and rankings.
    • They are an integral part of our research and collaboration.
    • And our graduates enrich the local workforce and help fuel the region’s economy.
  • I am a firm believer that an investment in our students and their education is an investment in the future of California, our nation and world.
  • And I am so grateful to Rita and Richard Atkinson for their support and investment in our students.
  • They recently designated a generous sum to support fellowships for graduate students at UC San Diego, and we are honored to have this new student housing project bear Rita Atkinson’s name.
  • The fellowships will have a significant impact on our students’ lives, our graduate programs and our university for generations to come.
  • And the Rita Atkinson Residences will enrich the academic and social experience of our graduate and professional students.
  • It is exactly this type of support that allows our students to focus on their studies and research, and collaborate with their peers and faculty, so they can go on to “Achieve the Extraordinary.”
  • So thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make this day happen.

 

 

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