School to Dedicate Humanities Center

Cal Lutheran University will throw a grand-opening bash for its new $4.1-million Humanities Center at 2 p.m. Feb. 21.

It is the first major facilities project at the private university since construction of the Samuelson Chapel in 1991, said spokeswoman Lynda Fulford. Funds to build the new center came from donations and gifts from more than 60 university supporters, she said.

The dedication ceremony will begin with an academic processional and entertainment by the university brass band and vocalists. That will be followed by remarks from university and community leaders.

The new center features 16 high-tech classrooms, a Macintosh computer lab and 30 faculty offices, Fulford said. Located alongside the center is a free-standing 2,200-square-foot recital hall and a 200-seat amphitheater for musical performances and lectures.

Departments housed in the humanities center include philosophy, English, history, religion and foreign languages.

The Kwan Fong Gallery of Art and Culture is an integral part of the new center, Fulford said.

It was named after artist and poet Maria Chui Kwan-Tseng Lee of Hong Kong, who received an honorary doctoral degree from the university in 1995 along with her friend, Katie Yang. Kwan Tseng-Lee and Yang founded the Kwan Fong Charitable Foundation, which has contributed to the development of the center’s art gallery.