New Cohen Career Center is a "dream realized"
Namesake Sherman Cohen in front of the new 11,000 career center that bears his name. Photo by Stephen Salpukas
Robbon cutting W&M President Taylor Reveley, Vice President for Administration Anna Martin and Vice President for Student Affairs Ginger Ambler (left) and Vice President for Development Sean Pieri and Cohen Center Director Mary Schilling (right) join Gloria and Sherman Cohen (center) as the cut the ribbon to dedicate the Cohen Career Center that opened its doors earlier this semester. Photo by Stephen Salpukas
Family affair Sherman Cohen was joined by members of his family for the dedication ceremony. Photo by Stephen Salpukas
With nearly 100 people in attendance, the College’s new, 11,000-square foot Sherman and Gloria H. Cohen Career Center was officially dedicated on Nov. 20.
Recalling the cold December morning nearly two years ago that Sherman and Gloria Cohen — and members of their family — were on hand to break ground on the new facility, President Taylor Reveley described the area of campus where the Career Center now stands as the transformation of “a dream come to life.”
Reveley, who also noted that the project was completed ahead of schedule and under budget, said, “Students will launch the next phase of their lives here. The Cohen Career Center is an elegant addition to our campus’s bricks and mortar.”
Indeed, the Career Center has more than 7,600 in-person contacts with students and alumni each year and, located at the center of campus next to the College’s high-traffic Sadler Center, the new facility with its soaring glass atrium, fireplace, and expansive meeting spaces, is expected to attract even more attention from students as they explore their career options. Compared to the old Career Center, which was located in cramped quarters in the basement of Blow Hall, the new facility is one of only a few freestanding university career centers and has been welcomed by recruiters who are now able to interview more William & Mary students thanks to the larger, purpose-designed space.
The Career Center, which also features an 80-seat presentation room, offices for professional and career counselors to meet individually with students, and a recruitment suite on the second floor that includes 15 interview rooms, opened earlier this fall. The building was constructed using high quality, sustainable materials, and the College has applied to have it LEED certified, a process that involves an independent, third party that verifies the building is an environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy place to work.
“My wife, Gloria, and I — together with our family — take special pride in dedicating the Cohen Career Center at the College of William & Mary,” said Sherman Cohen, who also thanked Reveley, Rector Henry C. Wolf ’64, J.D. ’66, members of the College’s Board of Visitors, and Vice President for Student Affairs Ginger Ambler ’88, Ph.D. ’06.
The $7.9 million Cohen Career Center was completely privately funded with a $6 million gift from New York City real estate developer Sherman Cohen L.H.D. ’09 and his wife, Gloria, who, along with their children Robin and Charles, grandchildren and family members, were in attendance for the dedication. Other donors in attendance included representatives from the classes of 1958 and 1960, which supported the Career Center through their 50th Reunion class gifts. Several other supporters, alumni, parents and friends of the College, were also on-hand for the dedication, including Gale Arnold ’58, John and Muriel Coyle, Karen Field, Constantine and Marianne Lordanou, Leanne ’75 and Alex Kurland, Richard and Kathleen Lash, and Christian and Maribeth Spitz, and Rhian Horgan ’99, who, in addition to personally supporting the project, represented JPMorgan Chase & Co., which also contributed.
Ambler also spoke during the dedication about how the new Cohen Career Center will have a significant impact on the ability of William & Mary’s students and alumni to find quality employment by opening up avenues of success. Echoing Reveley’s remarks, she said, “The Cohen Career Center is truly a dream realized.”
