University of New Haven Breaks Ground on New Donor-Funded Home for Pompea College of Business

Martin Family Hall, a four-story, 50,000-square-foot $45 million facility will bring the Pompea College of Business back to the University’s West Haven campus and expand experiential learning opportunities for students.

On a beautiful early fall afternoon, with the New Haven skyline visible in the distance, the University of New Haven community gathered at the southeast entrance of its West Haven campus for a milestone more than a decade in the making: the groundbreaking of a new home for the Pompea College of Business.

The scene was unmistakably celebratory. Rows of filled seats and standing-room attendees gathered around the groundbreaking site as the thrum of cheerful voices mixed with the click of cameras. Refreshments were served, a pile of hard hats waited nearby, and excitement was palpable as University leaders, students, alumni, donors, faculty, staff, and community partners came together to mark the occasion.

Martin Family Hall, the four-story, 50,000-square-foot, $45 million facility is completely donor funded, including principal gifts from longtime benefactors Dennis Martin '81 ’05 Hon., and his wife Barbara, along with Charles Pompea '71, '90 EMBA, '06 Hon. and his wife, Tamera, who have contributed transformational donations totaling more than $25 million.  The building will serve as the new home of the Pompea College of Business and bring the College back to the heart of main campus, after years of being located at a former corporate headquarters in nearby Orange.

Nancy Savage, Ph.D., provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, described the project as a significant part of the University’s broader $200 million agenda to transform campus. “It represents our commitment to creating an academic environment that is every bit as ambitious as the future we are preparing our students to enter.”

For Michael Ambrose ’84, M.S., ’19 Hon., chair of the University’s Board of Governors, the moment represented something bigger than a new building. “Groundbreakings are about more than construction,” he said. “They are expressions of confidence. They indicate what we believe in and where we are going – and that we are willing to invest in getting there.”

'This is not simply a new building'

University President Jens Frederiksen, Ph.D., called the groundbreaking a historic day, describing the site and the building that will soon rise there as “the cornerstone” of the University’s transformation.

Chair Ambrose said that vision was already evident when Frederiksen was being considered for the presidency, and that bringing Pompea College back to campus was “a foundational element” of the vision he outlined during the presidential search.

“The Pompea College of Business and this building will be the thread and glue that connects all the various colleges and initiatives of this University,” Ambrose said.

Dr. Frederiksen said the building reflects the University’s focus on preparing students not simply to enter the workforce, but to be “better than ready” to lead in a world defined by change, innovation, technology, and opportunity.

He asked the audience to imagine the first students who will walk through the building’s doors in less than two years — students who might launch companies, lead global organizations, transform industries, or apply what they learn to fields beyond business.

“This is not simply a new building,” Frederiksen said. “It is a statement of confidence in our students, in our faculty, in the future of business education, and in the University of New Haven.”

'It will serve as a beacon'

Brian Kench, Ph.D., dean of the Pompea College of Business, traced the College’s evolution back more than a decade, noting that in 2014 it had fewer than 700 students, no name, no business accreditation, and no permanent home on campus.

Today, the College holds AACSB accreditation, placing it among the top 6 percent of business programs globally, and has students across the University’s West Haven and Riyadh campuses, along with partnerships in Beijing. Its programs have also earned national and global recognition, while 97 percent of its graduates are employed or enrolled in graduate school within six months of earning their degree.

Still, Dr. Kench said, Pompea College had long recruited students “with one arm tied behind our backs” because it lacked a signature facility on campus. Martin Family Hall changes that.

“Prominently placed upon this hill, it will serve as a beacon — a landmark that will announce, to every student, every visitor, and every future business leader who drives by: the Pompea College of Business has arrived,” Kench said.

Inside, the building will be designed around experiential learning. Students will have opportunities to pitch business plans to executives, learn to close sales through the Sussman Family Sales Institute, manage a nearly $1 million portfolio through the Gaia Initiative, and defend consulting strategies before industry leaders in the Executive Boardroom.

“This building has been designed around one belief,” Kench said, “that the best preparation for an extraordinary career is real, meaningful experience — before you graduate.”

'The future of this campus'

Charles E. Pompea ’71, ’90 EMBA, ’06 Hon., a member of the University’s Board of Governors and former chair, reflected on how dramatically the University has changed since he graduated in 1971.

“It had, I think, three or four buildings and a lot of parking lots,” Mr. Pompea said. “We have changed dramatically.”

He also emphasized the significance of the project being fully privately funded, calling it something “to be proud of” and urging the University community to keep moving forward without debt. He encouraged today’s students to approach their futures with passion, honesty, and respect.

“You’re the future of this campus. You’re the future of the world,” Pompea told the students gathered for the ceremony. “Whatever you do, do it with a passion.”

For student speaker Elyse Genaway '28, a sport management major, the new building is an opportunity to give future Chargers even more of the experiences that shaped her own education. She credited the Pompea College with helping her develop leadership and communication skills, build a professional network, and pursue opportunities with the Red Sox Foundation, Army West Point, Octagon, and the New York Jets.

“That is what education can do,” Genaway said. “It can open a door. It can introduce you to a mentor. It can give you the confidence to step out of your comfort zone.”

'This new building will be just the beginning'

Dennis Martin, who was interviewed live from campus, along with some Pompea College students by the local CBS affiliate hours before the ceremony, echoed that emphasis on connection, describing the new building as a place where students from across the University can come together with one another, faculty, and industry.

“What’s important is the connections built,” Martin said. “And this new building will be just the beginning.”

Then came the groundbreaking itself — set to the Rolling Stones, as an excavator dug into the earth. When the horseshoe trigger was pushed down, sparklers erupted and yellow and blue streamers burst into the air. New renderings of Martin Family Hall were revealed as the crowd celebrated the beginning of a project years in the making.

“For those who thought this was going to be your typical groundbreaking ceremony – you probably know me better than that,” Dr. Frederiksen said.