The long anticipated renovation of Biedenharn Hall is officially a reality.

ULM President James Cofer and Dr. Roger Jones, interim director of the School of Visual and Performing Arts, made the announcement at a press conference Feb 20. The conference, which included a tour of the building, began in the lobby of the building’s new Emy-Lou Biedenharn Recital Hall.

"There was another president at another university that once said, ‘the sciences make life possible, and the arts make it worthwhile,’" said Cofer, referring to Biedenharn’s tradition of housing the university’s music programs.

In attendance were two former university officials whom Cofer thanked for making the building’s renovation come about. Former university President Dwight Vines put the $5.4 million Biedenharn project on a capital priorities list during his tenure. Dr. Richard Worthington, the former director of the School of Music, is widely credited for pushing for the renovation over a 20-year period.

"We’re going to build the school [of visual and performing arts] into a premier part of the campus, and this facility is going to be a major part of that effort," Cofer said.

Jones began his remarks by speaking of the building’s new features, as well as new musical instruments it would include.

"In spite of the rain outside, this is the day we’ve been waiting for, those of us at the university in music and those in the arts community here," Jones said.

"They know we have something special. This is the only recital hall like this in this neck of the woods."

The recital hall, which seats 284 people, includes state of the art acoustics and lighting. The renovated building now includes two Fazioli grand pianos, which are constructed from Italian wood.

In addition to new classrooms, students making use of the new Biedenharn have access to a listening center and music computer laboratory. Another feature is an elevator for the physically disabled, something the building previously lacked.

As part of ULM’s Concert Series, the Baermann String Quartet performed in the recital hall Monday night. A black-tie Gala will take place in the recital hall March 15.

"We will have some of the most wonderful performers that you can hear," Jones said of the concert, before being interrupted by the sound of a Fazioli piano in the recital hall behind him.

"Maybe we should be quiet and let the music speak for itself," he added to the laughing audience of about 75 people.

While renovations to Biedenharn took place, students in the School of Visual and Performing Arts and Division of Music and Dance attended classes in Sandel Hall. Those students originally expected their stay in Sandel to last 18 months. Eighteen months, however, became four years. Classes are expected to move back to Biedenharn in early April.

Biedenharn Hall was one of the first buildings constructed on campus in the 1930s. While the building has withstood 70 years of use, many in the music program say it was becoming worn down. They also say it was never designed as a music building in its original construction. The building was last renovated in the 1950s.

As the tour began, many participants expressed their disbelief at how differently Biedenharn now looks, refusing to believe they were in the building they remembered.

"We’ve been chomping at the bit waiting to get in here," said Chelsea King, West Monroe music education freshman. "Everybody’s pumped up about the move."

Students eager to begin classes in Biedenharn are volunteering their free time to move furniture, musical instruments and classroom supplies from Sandel.

King said the modernized building will better help to attract students interested in pursuing a music degree to ULM. Especially of interest to King are high school students from Neville, Ouachita, and West Monroe. King said those students often wish to get an education as far away from home as possible.

"But, now, I think home is going to look a lot more appealing to some of these kids," she said.

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The colleges of liberal arts and pure and applied sciences have merged to create the new College of Arts and Sciences, containing what is described as a core-university curriculum.

The move is part of President Cofer’s initiative to provide the university with a single academic foundation of arts, humanities and science. The structure of the university will change as well.

Committee members say that more decision-making processes will be taken away from the sixth floor of the university library and placed back in the hands of deans and department heads as a result.

"The way I describe it to myself and other people is to imagine the university as a wheel. We’ve had a wheel with a very small hub. What the president wants to do is add a stronger hub to the wheel and that’s going to be the arts and sciences. Then everything else will serve the rest of the colleges," said Dr. Gordon Harvey, assistant professor of history, and member of the College of Arts and Sciences Steering Committee.

The university has previously had only a minimum of degree requirements. The core-curriculum, which committee members say will probably be implemented sometime within the next one to two years, will be required for every student in order to enhance their degrees. Committee members say other benefits to having the core-curriculum will be more compatibility among the differing majors.

"It will make things a lot easier for students who change majors, because right now if you change your major, a lot of times the introduction courses that you are required to take are different. You end up having to take a different math or something than what you’d taken with a previous major," said Dr. Anna Hill, professor of biology, and member of the steering committee.

Describing the new college as "the heartbeat of the university," its dean, Dr. Carlos D. Fandal, said that students should not be concerned about their program losing its identity because of the merger. Fandal is also the chair of the steering committee.

"Historically, many universities have had arts and sciences," he said. Fandal said that the merger of the colleges will result in the sharing of more resources amongst its departments, which he says are not as dissimilar as many people believe.

"There are some areas that have more in common than you would imagine," Fandal said, mentioning computer science and communications as an example. "I’m hopeful that the two [merged colleges] can do things together and maybe even work on projects."

While committee members say the creation of the college is still "a work in progress," the merger became official this summer, after being approved by the state board of regents and board of supervisors. Students graduating Aug 10. were among the first to be awarded degrees from the College of Arts and Sciences.

In the interests of maintaining each department’s integrity, the steering committee is still considering the organizational structure of the new college. Three to four different proposals currently under consideration are being weighed concerning which departments should merge with which particular departments, divisions and schools.

The committee is also concerned with how the merger will affect students, as well as meeting the requirements of different accrediting agencies.

"By this time next year, most of the big stuff is going to be done, and we’ll just be doing the fine print, crossing our t’s and dotting our i’s," Harvey said.

In an effort to get members from the two colleges into the same area, the college’s office is temporarily located in Hannah Hall. The office will move to a new location in the fall semester. While saying that the decision of where to move is still under consideration, committee members say that it will probably be somewhere on the first floor of the Administration Building.

"One of the things is making sure students know where they’re supposed to go. There’s going to be some confusion. That’s why they’re waiting until after registration to try to move into the new offices," said Dr. Neil Brotherton, professor of chemistry. Brotherton is also a member of the steering committee.

While committee members say that unforeseen problems will undoubtedly arise in the creation of the new college, they say that they will be prepared to work to counteract them. Dean Fandal says that he is enthusiastic about the challenge.

"I know few people who have the opportunity to create a college like we are. I mean, how often do you get to do that? That’s a lifetime thing. So, I could get fired up about that. I hope the students and faculty will too. We’re going to create a college here."