It’s another exciting day for Auburn Hills at Oakland University.  I had the privilege of attending today’s groundbreaking ceremony for what will become the newly expanded version of the Oakland Center (OC), OU’s main student gathering place.  The nearly $50 million expansion promises to be a spectacular addition to this thriving campus and as I can attest, will provide badly needed space for students.  On occasion, I am on campus in the OC during the day and I witness firsthand a number of students sitting on the floor in the hallways due to a lack of available seating.  For me, the OC is really a special place.  As an undergrad and graduate student at OU in the mid-80’s to early 90’s, I remember a rather simple building with few amenities, but it was the center of a lot of college life.  Of course, it met the needs at the time.  I often joke that I received my undergrad at OU back when it was a one-room schoolhouse.  Well . . . not quite.  Over the years, I’ve taken a class here and there and I am currently enrolled as a student, experiencing what is the new and improved current version of the OC.  But now I will have the opportunity to experience yet another generation of the OC, the one that begins construction and renovation this summer and re-opens next year as the latest and greatest version.  

Congratulations to everyone who is a part of the OU community on what promises to be an incredible new facility that will enhance what is already an exceptional OU experience.  We in Auburn Hills look forward to cutting the ribbon and swinging open its doors when the expansion is complete.

Tom Tanghe, City Manager