Villanova representatives tour Cabrini: what we know

Throughout the first month of the semester, there’s been a new crowd around campus.

Seen checking out classrooms and buildings, these individuals are representatives from Villanova University touring with members of Cabrini’s facilities staff.

In early February, faculty and staff members were alerted that a three-person team from the Space Management Group, representing Villanova, would inspect the entirety of Cabrini’s campus. During their visit, the team would be accompanied by either Director of Facilities Patty Smith or Structural Trades Supervisor Chris Protesto.

According to an email statement from Smith, in a three-day span from Feb. 5 to Feb. 7, the team would be “measuring, taking pictures, and otherwise gauging space utilization.” Along with these visits, other Cabrini staff members from different departments would provide tours of specific areas on campus to key Villanova staff.

What’s the plan for Cabrini’s campus?

Many in the current and past Cabrini community wonder exactly how the campus will be utilized by Villanova after the school ceases operations on June 30. The advent of these visits may signal a move forward toward firm answers.

In Smith’s email, she said, “The purpose of the tours is to acquaint [Villanova staff] with our campus as they begin future planning,” and noted that there is still no information available regarding any plans for the future of Cabrini’s campus.

Jonathan Gust, Assistant Vice President of Communication at Villanova, also echoed this sentiment in a statement via email. He wrote, “Villanova is in the early stages of getting to know the Cabrini campus,” with plans to use this next year to “engage its community to ascertain the best way to incorporate and utilize the Cabrini campus for the benefit of students, faculty, staff and alumni.”

Much of the questions about what specific names, buildings, and traditions will be preserved remain unanswered and there is no clear timeline on when that information will be made available.

Students left out of the loop

Many students going through their day-to-day schedule may have missed these representatives. But some with a keen eye took notice and started to speculate what could be happening.

Marrin Specht, senior international business and marketing double major, lived on campus through the summer and began to observe these people checking out Cabrini.

“I noticed that people were taking pictures, recording, and taking measurements all over campus. I’ve seen that continue throughout the semester, despite the university saying that this [semester] would remain as normal as possible.”

Specht referenced a line in the initial community letter released on June 23, 2023 stating that Cabrini will continue the 2023/2024 academic year as planned for all students who chose to stay. Both then and now she feels that communication to the student body about what is happening around campus to the student body has been sub-par.

“It kind of matches everything we’ve heard from administration saying that they’re going to be as open with information as possible and really not seeing students receive as much information as we should,” said Specht. “This is our home. It’s something that we all care about and want to know more of what is happening in the future.”

Cecilia Canan, senior design management major, was another witness to these visitors who felt out of the loop.

“I feel like I wasn’t properly informed about what these individuals were doing on campus,” Canan said. “It took me a little by surprise seeing these individuals, and I was a little upset realizing that the last Cabrini school year is coming to a close soon.”

A November editorial written by the Loquitur Editorial Board compiled a list of items students want to see preserved. Both Specht and Canan also voiced some of the items that they hope will remain after Cabrini ceases to operate, including the Woodcrest Mansion and keeping Mother Cabrini’s name alive in some respect.

As of now, much still remains unknown from both parties on how Cabrini’s campus will be utilized past this year. Most of the information made public and current answers to frequently asked questions are available at the Cabrini University Legacy website. This is an ongoing process and only time will tell what the Cabrini campus will look like in the future.