on campus
25
AMU reunion
It is the center of the Marquette solar system, hosts thousands of visitors and hundreds of events each year, is the best-loved go-to spot for coffee, and is turning 25. What is it?
T
he Alumni Memorial Union will mark its anniversary with a reunion of AMU employees at a celebration Oct. 9–10. “The AMU turning 25 was a great opportunity to not only celebrate the building but also to celebrate the thousands of people who have worked at the AMU,” says Dan Abler, Bus Ad ’96, Grad ’08, assistant director in the union and leader of the planning committee. The union opened Abler’s freshman year, and he worked there as a student. The weekend’s main event is the dinner gala Saturday night. Guests will include Mark Panlener, Arts ’93, Grad ’99, who held his wedding reception in the third-floor Monaghan Ballroom. Panlener worked at Brooks Memorial Union before it closed and at the Alumni Memorial Union as an undergraduate. He returned to work for the AMU as the audiovisual technology director while in graduate school. Now he is a member of the nine-person celebration planning committee of current and former student-employees. Ruben Rivas, Arts ’09, who worked in the AMU post office called Union Station as a student, is also on the committee. He is excited that the event offers a way to recognize the dedication of AMU employees. “We often take for granted the sacrifices that go into providing world-class facilities,” Rivas says. “This weekend serves to draw attention to the AMU, the people who make it what it is, and give thanks and give back to a university and building that mean so much to us.” m WM LEARN MORE
8
Summer 2015
at mu.edu/amu/25years.shtml.
take the AMU aptitude test The AMU replaced what building?
BROOKS MEMORIAL UNION BUILT IN 1953
What did it cost to build the AMU?
$15 MILLION How much came from donors?
74.6% What class gave the most, at $1.5 million?
CLASS OF 1929
How many cups of coffee are sold weekly in the Brew Bayou?
1,277 How many events occur in the union each week?
140 Can you name a new student culinary favorite served in the cafe?
SUSHI