Fisk University has announced Quantum Leap, an estimated $1 billion campus master plan that represents the most significant undertaking in the institution’s 160-year history.
According to a release, the roughly 10-year effort will include revitalizing historic buildings, expanding academic resources and constructing facilities, including a $400 million innovation center to be located on the southern end of the North Nashville university’s campus. Construction will begin immediately.
Agenia Clark, Fisk University president
The release does not note the dollar amount raised and/or committed to date for Quantum Leap.
The innovation center is billed as eco-friendly, non-intrusive and housed on five undeveloped acres of the Fisk campus. To offer 100,000 square feet, the future facility will provide a 30,000-square-foot academic space and a 70,000-square-foot technology center.
In addition to the center, Quantum Leap will involve renovated residence halls, a new Fisk Arena, a new student center and additional parking.
The master plan calls for upgraded classroom space and access to quantum-level technology, as well as annexes to the John Lewis Center for Social Justice (to start this year and honor the legacy of deceased alumnus and civil rights leader John Lewis) and the Carl Van Vechten Art Gallery, which will include dedicated academic, research and instruction space for students and faculty.
Quantum Leap will symbolize “university leadership’s commitment to ensuring the growth and sustainability of Fisk in perpetuity” and represent a “multi-decade roadmap [that] maximizes the institution’s footprint within existing campus borders."
“For more than 160 years, Fisk University has played a leading role in shaping some of the nation’s brightest minds, cultivating leaders, expanding access to education and stewarding American history,” Agenia Clark, Fisk University president, says in the release.
“Quantum Leap represents our commitment to building upon our storied legacy while paving the way for sustained growth to ensure Fisk continues to empower its students, faculty and community. Through our campus master plan, the institution is poised to emerge as a leader in higher education and innovation.”
This article was first published by our sister publication, the Nashville Post.
