Spirit Week to celebrate final days of Porterfield, McGuffey Halls

The College of Visual and Performing Arts will commemorate the end of an era April 19 - 23, 2021 by holding a Spirit Week to say farewell to Porterfield and McGuffey Halls. The final week of classes this semester will be the last time students ever take courses in these buildings, as they will each be torn down and replaced with the Center for Adaptive Innovation and Creativity (CAIC). The new center will be a state-of-the-art facility for programs housed within the college of visual and performing arts as well as some areas in health sciences. While faculty, staff and students are excited about the new building, many in the CVPA will miss the older facilities that have housed campus arts programs for generations.

Spirit Week will offer differing daily themes and events to commemorate the long-time campus structures. Activities include wearing 1950s and 60s style clothing to commemorate the decades when the buildings were erected, as well as wearing school colors and branded clothing. Free gifts will be offered each day at varying locations, and a pizza dinner is planned on Wednesday afternoon at McGuffey Terrace. All events associated with Spirit Week will observe social distancing guidelines and university COVID-19 safety protocols. 

Spirit Week was created by Assistant Professor Laura Kimball of the Department of Design. “As an Interior Designer I am acutely aware of the impact the built environment has on us emotionally and psychologically, in particular with place attachment,” says Kimball. “Place attachment is the emotional bond between person and place, highly influenced by an individual's personal experiences. McGuffey and Porterfield are deeply connected to our students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Given these buildings house the arts, students spend double to triple the amount of class time than in typical colleges classes. Many friendships and memories have been made, life lessons learned, and careers started within these halls. Some buildings eventually become a character of their own in the stories of our lives. With both of these buildings housing CVPA programs and coming down simultaneously, it was an opportunity to celebrate and say our farewells as a college, giving one last hurrah on Radford's campus, to our old and dear friends McGuffey and Porterfield.”

“We are looking forward to having some spirited fun next week as we bid farewell to buildings that have housed our programs for generations," says Margaret Devaney, Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts. "The college is very excited about moving to its new home in the Center for Adaptive Innovation and Creativity but feeling a bit nostalgic as well as we depart the hallowed halls of McGuffey and Porterfield!” 

Join the Radford University College of Visual and Performing Arts as we say goodbye to McGuffey Hall and Porterfield Hall during the week of April 19 - 23, 2021. A complete schedule of Spirit Week events can be downloaded by clicking the blue button below.