WPI opens $80M academic building named Unity Hall

Photo | WPI WPI's newly opened Unity Hall was announced in 2019 and will feature student academic services, as well as several research facilities.

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By Katherine Hamilton

After closing a controversial chapter related to its largest donor last year, Worcester Polytechnic Institute is turning over a new leaf with the opening of its 100,000-square-foot academic and student services building dubbed Unity Hall.

The new building, which will be featured with an open house on Tuesday, was named based on a growing focus throughout the university on social justice and inclusion, according to a Thursday announcement posted on WPI’s website.

Construction of the building was announced in 2019 without a name.

Located between Gordon Library and Boynton Street, the five-story building will be home to research facilities for robotics engineering, bioinformatics and computational biology, and the new Semiconductor Security Research Center, which received funding in December.

It will contain a one-stop Student Academic Services Center, which includes accessibility services, academic advising, career development, and the registrar’s office.

The total cost of the project was $80 million, according to WPI's director of public relations, Colleen Wamback. The school received nearly $20 million from donors, per the announcement.

In the spring, WPI officially cut ties with its largest donor, the late Robert Foisie, who gave $63 million over his lifetime. The school settled a lawsuit with Foisie’s ex-wife in May before removing his name from its business school and $49-million Innovation Studio. The suit aimed to recoup $4.5 million in donations Foisie made after the couple’s divorce, as well as claiming Foisie hired a hitman to kill his adult son.

In October, WPI launched its largest-ever fundraising campaign to raise $500 million to go toward scholarships, research, and diversity and inclusion efforts. The campaign has yielded $19 million from 419 donors for the new Unity Hall building, according to Thursday’s announcement.