May 04, 2005 Laurel, Maryland

Elected officials, college donors and education leaders joined the Capitol College community Friday, April 29, to dedicate the college's William G. McGowan Academic Center.

The ceremony culminates a five-year capital campaign and 18 months of construction, a period that allowed the vision to transform to reality, a theme presented throughout the ceremony and the hallways of the $7.1 million facility.

“Today's dedication of the McGowan Academic Center celebrates another milestone in the life of the college, and positions us for growth and a higher level of excellence well into the future,” Capitol College President Michael T. Wood said at the start of the ceremony. “The vision for the McGowan Academic Center was a product of many great minds coming together and of the dedicated execution of the plan by many of you here today.”

The college broke ground on the academic center in October 2003. Named after the founder of MCI Communications Corp., the building's funding came largely from two sources -- a $3 million grant from the McGowan Charitable Fund and a matching $3 million from the state of Maryland.

Wood was later joined by Monsignor Andrew J. McGowan, brother of William G. McGowan and chairman of the fund established in his memory, and former college President G. William Troxler, who retired in June 2004 after 27 years of service to the college, in a ceremonial wire cutting.

The men cut through three braided Ethernet cables spanning the length of a wall, an act symbolizing the building's wireless Internet access and the college's continuing move toward new technology.

During the afternoon ceremony, Monsignor McGowan reminded the audience of the legacy left by his brother, an entrepreneur who never feared failure. He recalled when first approached by William McGowan about the idea of challenging the AT&T telecommunications monopoly. The monsignor asked his brother why he would want to take that kind of risk.

“Nobody has taken on AT&T and they think they have a divine right in the business,” Monsignor McGowan said, relaying his brother's words. “It was a drive he [William] had and a realization about what competition could do. ... He would love this place and what you are doing here. Bill would be pleased with this building.”

Other guest speakers were William Askinazi, the assistant secretary for the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development; Walt Townshend, president of the Baltimore-Washington Corridor Chamber of Commerce; Tony Okolo, section chief of the office of community relations for Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson; and Dillard Menchan, deputy director of educational programs at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

“A lot of academic institutions are developing students for now, but they are missing what we need for the future,” Menchan said. Developing students who are prepared for the future is “what is happening here.”

A feature of the 22,000-square-foot academic center is a control room for the Space Operations Institute, a partnership with NASA and private industry that allows students to track and control various spacecraft, as well as gain professional experience in the space industry.

The building also features a cutting-edge computer lab and several multimedia classrooms featuring the latest technology. A conference room and a tiered, technology lyceum that allow space for meetings and special events.