Isenberg Students Give the Hub Some Love

A month after the debut of Isenberg’s game-changing Business Innovation Hub, impromptu interviews with undergraduates reveal unanimous appreciation for the new building and its resources. Students agree that the 70,000-square-foot addition to Isenberg offers a quantum leap in study and social space. They applaud its architecture, including its abundance of natural light. And they recommend its modestly upscale, internationally diverse café. The students also commend the Hub’s state-of-the-art classrooms and new Chase Career Center interview rooms.

“With its natural light and overall atmosphere, I want to be here all of the time,” exclaims Rexford Nguyen, a third-year finance major. “The building has brought Isenberg to a whole new level.”

Third-year OIM major Michael Zola concurs: “There is so much more space. The building’s study rooms and open spaces make it a great place to work, hang out, and network.”

Freshman Danielle Major is taking her Business Data Analytics course in the Hub’s Business and Analytics Lab. “Its interactivity and visual projections make it an extremely nice learning environment,” she observes. Although Isenberg has gained considerable space, its savvy design makes the school seem socially “smaller,” she adds.

“Before the addition, I never had any reason to stay at Isenberg,” notes sophomore accounting major Matthew Haggerty. “With the improved atmosphere, including the food services, I stick around until my homework gets done.”

“I wasn’t able to work in the old building’s crowded atrium,” recalls sophomore finance major Reed Young. The former scarcity of space, he says, is a thing of the past. That, he adds, includes the school’s recent career fair.

HTM senior Melanie Abercrombie has added reason to party: Before January, her department’s digs were across campus in Flint Lab, one of the university’s older, challenged buildings. Since January, her entire department has relocated to the Hub. “It’s open and inviting—a great place to do homework,” she remarks.

And third-year finance major Dhruv Maniyar is less than bashful about sharing a reaction from off-campus: “A friend from Troy University who visited me in Amherst was overwhelmed with the building,” he recalls.

“The new building is truly student-centric,” emphasizes senior marketing major Zoe Johnson. “Everything is here.” The “old” Isenberg, she says, was bursting at the seams. “It was time for an upgrade.” With that said, “The new Isenberg helps us market the school to students and to compete with other business schools.”

Apart from the Hub’s open study areas, Brooke Kleinfeld, also a senior marketing major, applauds the building’s “nooks,” where “with comfortable tables and chairs you can study without distraction.” And she recommends the café for its varied menu, including the “dynamite grilled cheese.” Refreshments aside, she confesses pride in the message conveyed by the building itself: “It is that Isenberg is a serious business school,” she proclaims.