Hankamer/Cashion complex and Penland Hall debut new looks

A new school year means the start of a new era for the Hankamer/Cashion complex and Penland Hall, which both reopened for the 2016-17 school year to rave reviews after spending the past year undergoing massive makeovers. New labs and academic units at Hankamer/Cashion and updated residential units, community kitchens and more at Penland were just a few of the new features Baylor students and faculty were treated to as they live and/or learn in the facilities again this semester.

[SEE PHOTOS of the new-look Hankamer/Cashion and Penland on the Baylor Facebook page]

The connected Hankamer and Cashion academic centers, which long housed the Hankamer School of Business, underwent a $26-million renovation over the last year after the Hankamer School of Business moved to the beautiful Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation a year ago. The newly remodeled facility now houses several new academic units, and the space has proved transformative for one Baylor department.

Last year, an anonymous $10 million dollar gift enabled Baylor’s Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) to dramatically enhance their services to students and the broader community with a move from Neill Morris Hall, one of the campus’ oldest buildings, to the Cashion Academic Center. The gift allowed CSD to build five community clinics in the new Baylor Speech-Language and Hearing Clinic, along with new labs that will enhance their ability to attract students and serve clients from the broader Waco community who come to campus to utilize their clinical services.

Other departments in the new-look Hankamer/Cashion complex include academic units from the Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences, Department of Computer Science, Baylor Institute for Air Science and the Center for Global Engagement.

At Penland Hall, students returned this year to find updated rooms and classrooms, laundry rooms, a community kitchen, a reflection room and a community room. The $19-million dollar renovation was part of an eight-year master plan that begin in 2013 to refurbish 10 residence halls across campus; North and South Russell have undergone similar updates, with Martin being worked this year and Alexander, Allen-Dawson, Collins and Memorial to follow.

The changes at Penland aren’t merely cosmetic — this year, the hall is led by its first faculty-in-residence. Dr. Kelli McMahan, BS ’92, a senior lecturer in health, human performance and recreation, will live full-time in the hall, interacting regularly with the students who call it home. The idea of a faculty-in-residence position is to foster relationships that help shape a strong social, educational, cultural and spiritual environment within the residential community, a position Penland Hall will benefit from now and in the future.

Sic ’em, Hankamer/Cashion and Penland!