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��è����Ƶ 10 years ago, Kent State University’s business college was told it would need a certain amount of philanthropic support before a new building project could be entertained.  

At the time, it seemed an incredibly daunting task, until Ambassador Edward F. Crawford and his family stepped in to complete the college’s capital campaign with the largest single gift in Kent State history. 

Now, with the opening of Crawford Hall, the Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship honors the Crawfords and the many other contributors who helped the project become a reality.  

In the lobby of Crawford Hall, a bronze statue of Ambassador Crawford, the entrepreneur for whom the college and building are named, recognizes his enormous contribution to the project.  

“When someone supports you in the generous way that he has, you want to honor them in a way that's meaningful to them,” said Deborah Spake, Ph.D., dean of the Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship.

“We worked with an Ohio-based artist named Alan Cottrill. He's a well-known sculptor,” Spake told Kent State Today. “A couple years ago, he was named Artist of the Year for the state of Ohio, and a piece of his work is in the U.S. Capitol.”

At the grand opening event for Crawford Hall on Sept. 27, university leadership, faculty, students, donors and alumni gathered in the new building to appropriately recognize those involved in the project. More than 250 donors contributed to the project, exceeding the initial building fundraising goal of $20 million.  

Aside from honoring the donors who made the long-awaited project possible, those behind it also wanted to acknowledge the impact it will have on the students who will attend classes in Crawford Hall.

“We have thousands of students for whom this is a very different atmosphere than what they had before,” Spake said. “It is closer to the atmosphere they will likely have when they go to work in a corporation.”

Jay Graham, executive director, facilities, planning and design and 
university architect, recounts considerations for innovative learning spaces for students when designing Crawford Hall.

"We went to the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon, and we saw spaces and other collaboration-focused classrooms there, and how the students want spaces to just hang out whether you're one student or you're a group of six,” Graham said. “We were also looking at their use of technology, so that students can have that built-in infrastructure.”

The design of Crawford Hall is intended to foster a more collaborative learning environment where students will be encouraged to spend more time in the building, even outside of class.

"A lot of pedagogy has changed in the classroom. It's not just a lecturer in front of a class and the students leave after class is over. It's problem-based learning, so they need to leave the classroom and continue to work in groups and collaborate,” Graham said. “The old building just didn't support that, and everything was fixed seating and tiered lecture hall format. Everything here is flat floor, except for the business theater and one low-rise classroom, which allows for that collaboration, both inside and outside the classroom.”

While honoring its students and donors, Crawford Hall elevates the experience of business education on campus whilst preparing students to enter similar work environments after graduation.  

“Our enrollment is up this fall, and I'm not really surprised,” Spake said. “I think the building is an attraction on its own when students walk through and see where they could be and the new technology that supports skills needed in the workforce.”

See pictures and learn more about the grand opening.

Learn more about the innovative classroom spaces at Crawford Hall.

Explore the Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship.