Over 50 administrators, donors and board members attended a ceremonial groundbreaking ceremony two weeks ago for the new cDonough School of Business building. The event marked the symbolic start of construction as well as the beginning of an exciting new era for Georgetown students studying business.

MSB students get occasional flack (joking and otherwise) from non-MSB-ers for their perceived easy schedules and long weekends. They are accused of being greedy slackers who miss out on the true liberal arts education Georgetown is supposed to offer.

But wherever you come down on this issue, the fact of the matter is that with the recent groundbreaking for the MSB center’s construction, the business school took a bold step toward its future as a part of Georgetown. This is arguably one of the biggest events in the history of the school, and it will define not only the business school itself, but the university community as well.

The new MSB building will be an architectural feat. The 170,000-square-foot facility will occupy the currently vacant Lot T next to the Leavey Center; three of its sides will be stone and red brick, and they will be connected by a glass pavilion. The new center will house classrooms, administrative offices, seminar rooms and small group “breakout” rooms (all with high-tech wiring), as well as a 400-seat auditorium and an underground parking garage. The structure will also be linked to the Leavey Center. Construction is expected to begin in the coming months as permits are finalized, and the project is slated for completion by spring 2008.

When the business school building is completed it will radically reshape the way that students see the MSB and its students, faculty and staff. For the first time, the MSB will have a visible place on campus.

Business classes are spread across campus, including the Car Barn, Walsh Building and Healy Hall. With the new center, however, students, parents and visitors will literally be able to point to a single building and say, “Look, there’s the business school.” Even more than the School of Foreign Service, the College or the School of Nursing and Health Studies, the business school will have a presence among the buildings on campus that will define it in the minds of many.

With this far more visible entity on campus, the students, professors and administrators of the business school will also have an opportunity to redefine how their work fits into the mission of the university to educate the entire person.

They will also be able to engage the critics and answer their questions, some of which are baseless.

An event, like the recent groundbreaking, which makes people take notice of something inevitably also becomes an opportunity for greater knowledge and understanding. A more visible business school community will prove to be no exception.