Lesli Marchese, Campus Carrier News Editor
In 2015, Berry announced the intention to build a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC). Since then, they have picked a location and are in the initial design and planning stages.
This community has raised questions among some students about the affects on Berry’s campus and students.
Chief of staff Whit Whitaker has been listening to student concerns and aims to dispel some of the worries students have concerning the CCRC.
“I think the more students know about the project – where it is, when it’s going to happen and how it will affect campus – I think those things are important,” Whitaker said.
Whitaker addressed some concerns he has heard.
A concern of students is that members of the CCRC will change the nature and feel of Berry by causing extra traffic.
The community is rather small and will only house about 250 residents.
It is unlikely that more than a few dozen of them will be on Berry’s main campus at any point.
The CCRC is “quite a hike” from main campus, Whitaker said. There are plans for some sort of connection between the community and Berry’s main campus, but the details are unknown, due to the design being in its early stages.
According to Whitaker, there will be many things for residents to do as part of the CCRC. It is likely many will be interested in attending theater productions, sporting events, recitals and other events, which will only serve to support Berry’s students.
“We believe that residents of the community will have a passion for Berry students and for the Berry community, whether they were alums or not, which will positively impact students,” Whitaker said.
There will be a separate entrance off of Technology Parkway into the CCRC, so deliveries, maintenance and guests of the community will not be entering through Berry’s campus. Similar to some members of the Rome community, residents of the CCRC will have access to Berry’s campus via an electronic pass with limited access after a set time.
Students are worried that residents of the CCRC will take over Berry’s facilities, including the Cage Center, Krannert and other student spaces.
The residents of the CCRC will have many facilities built for their activities on site. A key feature of communities consists of accommodations that cover all of the common needs of a senior citizen, including a wellness facility, healthcare facilities, dining options and others.
In the same way that you, as a student, would not want to get in your car and drive several miles to use their facilities, it is unlikely that the residents of the CCRC will want to drive to Berry’s main campus to use facilities they already have in closer proximity, Whitaker said.
Students are concerned they will have problems registering for and obtaining spaces in needed classes because senior citizens will already be enrolled.
Berry already has a Seniors Scholars program, which is a continuing education program that’s directed at the local retirees.
“Right now we let seniors take classes at Berry,” Whitaker said. “They can take them for credit or they can audit – but they’re on a space-available basis.”
After students have registered for classes, seniors and other community members have the option to request to take a course for credit or to audit a course at the professor’s discretion.
“Students are our first priority, always,” Chris Kozelle, director of news and editorial services at Berry, said.
Whitaker said that the CCRC will ultimately bring many benefits to Berry’s campus and the student population, while also being a good use of Berry’s land.
“When Martha Berry purchased all this land, she didn’t do it to be the world’s largest campus – I suspect that never even crossed her mind – but she did it because she saw the land as an endowment,” Whitaker said. “We’re putting this land to use for the benefit of the college, which I think will benefit students as well, in a very Martha Berry sort of way.”
The CCRC is set to open in 2019, and the college will release new information about it as details are finalized.
Whitaker and Brian Erb, vice president for finance, will be at SGA on Feb. 23 to address these concerns with the student body and answer any further questions that may arise.