RMU Dedicates New Media Arts Facility

Its nursing simulations center was recently revamped, and ground has already been broken for its new School of Business Complex. Now Robert Morris University can add media arts to its list of programs with new, state-of-the-art facilities.

Today, around 30 university employees and esteemed guests gathered at RMU’s Colonial Village to dedicate the recently completed Snee-Reinhardt House for Media Arts. Made possible by the Snee-Reinhardt Charitable Foundation, this new facility will serve as a living-learning center for students in the School of Communications and Information System’s (SCIS) Media Arts Program.

The noon ribbon-cutting ceremony was preceded by a welcome from David L. Jamison, J.D., provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. “The Snee-Reinhardt Charitable Foundation’s generous support is going to make a tremendous difference here at RMU,” he said. “This beautiful new facility will serve students, faculty, and the entire campus community in so many ways.”

The new Snee-Reinhardt House for Media Arts features a screening room on the lower level for student films and documentaries, a meeting room and conferencing room on the first floor, and ample space throughout to display the work of students. It also features an apartment on the second floor, where visiting scholars will live and work alongside students.

“This new facility will offer a number of ways for collaboration between students and faculty,” said Barbara J. Levine, Ph.D., SCIS dean and associate professor of communications.

The Snee-Reinhardt Charitable Foundation, established in 1983 by Katherine Snee, provides aid to organizations who strive to serve the community by improving social conditions. Christina Treadwell ‘91, a member of the foundation’s Board of Directors and RMU’s Board of Visitors, was instrumental in making this new facility a reality.

“We wanted to make sure it benefitted the students and benefitted the school’s curriculum,” she said. “I am so humbly honored to be a part of this and to be able to put into action the knowledge that I gained right here at RMU.”

RMU President Gregory G. Dell’Omo, Ph.D., was also very pleased to dedicate the new facility. “It’s great to see our young alums, such as Christina, becoming such wonderful supporters of the university and our vision,” he said. “The academic component is very important, particularly with respect to our commitment to engaged learning, and media arts plays right into that.”

-- Valentine J. Brkich