Students now have much more to look forward to at the Rinker Health Sciences Campus with the addition of a new campus center. While its opening was celebrated on June 28, a much larger grand opening for the community is set to occur on Oct. 25.

The campus center has many amenities for students, such as the Paws Café for lunch and dinner options, the Panther Store with books and clothing, the Panther Pantry for food, a prayer room and other various amenities. All of these options can be found in a 52,000-square-foot building.

The new building has been especially beneficial to students in Chapman’s Crean College of Health and Behavioral Sciences and the School of Pharmacy, which is located at the Rinker Campus.

During the June 28 opening, both Kara Ito, a third-year doctor of physical therapy student, and Brenda Kilzi, a first-year doctor of pharmacy student, spoke at the event to express their hopes for the building.

“Ever since the day the campus center opened, I have been using the facilities every day,” Ito said. “I am notoriously known to ‘live at Chapman’ since I complete all of my studying there and usually spend up to 12 hours on campus.”

Among the aforementioned facilities are also those made to appeal to students, such as large and numerous student rooms. These include workrooms for student organizations complete with their own meeting spaces and lockers. Other amenities available to students include laptops that can be checked out, wireless charging packs, food preparation and storage spaces and couches, which Ito expressed she often naps on.

“When we had our student celebration, the building was just barely starting to open, and from the beginning, I could tell the difference the building had made to the campus,” Kilzi said in an interview with The Panther. “Since that time, the building has not gotten any emptier, but rather busier, being a place for all students to go to.”

The additions to Rinker mark a period of growth and improvement all across Chapman University’s campus, with such projects as the Killefer building renovations and donations to other schools in the university like the Argyros School of Business and Economics and the Fowler School of Law.

“I envision that this building is just the beginning to future additions and will pave the way to further accommodate students’ needs,” Kilzi said in an interview with The Panther. “For example, there may be an expansion in the labs in the future, providing students more research opportunities, or even more simulation rooms to provide more practice for patient interaction.”

Both Kilzi and Ito expressed that Rinker expansion has been a massive step forward for students on a campus that already puts plenty of attention into creating a welcoming environment for students. With several construction projects currently taking place across campus, incoming and returning students to Chapman will be seeing plenty of new spaces no matter what their educational interests may be.

“I believe this is a great example of how a facility can elevate the experience and perspective for students and faculty,” Ito said in an interview with The Panther. “The addition of a center dedicated to students’ needs has made Chapman Rinker Campus feel more like a community than a work environment.”