MILWAUKEE — Marquette University has a brand new business school building at 16th and Wisconsin, the old home to McCormick Hall.
This new building marks a historic moment for Marquette as it's the university's largest fully donor-funded construction project.
The Dr. E. J. and Margaret O'Brien Hall building is a $60 million facility with every dollar coming from donors.
Tuesday was the first day of class for Marquette students in the new business school.
TMJ4's Charles Benson was there for the first look inside.
If you want to educate the business leaders of tomorrow, why not engage them in a new facility that represents the future?
"It's really adaptive to the kind of learning environment you want to have, the kind of social interactions you want to have, and it's just so open," Marquette student Catherine Taphorn said.
Taphorn and student Charlieu Hua are all business talking about their new space, including the Baird Applied Investment Management Lab with real-time stock and business news.
"Very similar to a real-life trading floor in Chicago or New York," Hua said.
Not only do they get the feel of being on the floor of the stock exchange, students actually get to manage about $3 million of the university's money, making big decisions about buying and selling stocks.
"We have these weekly pitches, so we are always buying and selling stocks every week," said Hua. "So we are adding to the portfolio."
Tim Hanley, acting Dean of the College of Business of Administration is just as excited as the students.
In a competitive environment to recruit college students, Hanley is already seeing results.
Benson asked, "How does this building intersect with those goals?"
Hanley replied, "This past year we saw a 40% increase in our freshmen class."
Hanley says they are using 360 camera technology in classrooms.
"We know we are going to have to design offerings that can be delivered in person and delivered remotely," he said.
And delivering results for students on their first day in class.
"Even in the two classes I've had today, I've seen so many small business rooms you can book to have collaborative meetings with people in group projects," said Taphorn.
An early return on a big community investment.
WATCH: Marquette University President Michael Lovell speaks about the new $60 million business school
WATCH: Acting Business School Dean Tim Hanley joins TMJ4's @ The Table to discuss the new facility
