04/01/2025

At the start of the spring 2025 semester, Saint Louis University’s College for Public Health and Social Justice made a big move.

Faculty, staff, and students left their homes in Salus Center, packed up, and headed north. The College now calls the second floor of the Marvin and Harlene Wool Center home.

Members of the SLU community gathered in the space Monday afternoon to officially celebrate the move with an open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The second floor in the Wool Center recently underwent a renovation to become an academic space for CPHSJ, thanks to a grant from the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) that helped convert the space.
 
Leslie McClure, Ph.D., became the dean of the college in the summer of 2023 and said the project was well underway when she arrived. 

“This was a gift to me,” McClure said. 

McClure praised everyone involved in the project and everyone who helped with the challenging mid-academic year move. The move took place at the end of the fall semester in December and involved five moving trucks moving 390 boxes over four days.

“Many, many people helped with this,” McClure said. “. . . It was just an incredible undertaking to move all the people and things from one building to another.”

McClure said SLU’s facilities team was “incredible to work with.” She also praised staff members Mary Dant and Nicole Lyon for their work in the transition. 

While the move itself took days, the project took years. Work to start the move started more than three years ago while Interim Vice President for Research Ellen K. Barnidge, Ph.D., was the interim dean of the college. 

On Monday afternoon, Barnidge said she was thrilled to be in the renovated space. 

“As those of you who study community health know, health happens in community — where we live, learn, play, and work matter to our health,” she said. “It also matters to our sense of community.”

Barnidge said the new space was thoughtfully designed. She said teams worked on everything from having ample natural lighting to having plenty of space for collaboration. No detail was too small — Barnidge said they had conversations over the placement of outlets for example. 

“If the space brought people together, we hoped that they would feel more connected to the community of researchers, learners, and practitioners,” she said.

The new space includes common lounges, large classrooms, conference rooms, seminar spaces, break rooms, student workspaces and office space. 

“Wool now provides you with a comfortable, light-filled space with detail chosen just for you to help you envision a better world and work for it,’ Barnidge said. 

SLU President Fred. P. Pestello, Ph.D., praised former U.S. Senator Roy Blunt for his work helping SLU secure the federal funds for the space. Noting that Blunt was a former college president, Pestello said Blunt understood the needs of the University.

After touring the floor, Pestello called the new space “beautiful” and said the move from Salus to Wool should greatly benefit the college. 

“We’re delighted with this relocation and this magnificent space,” Pestello said.