Carole Weinstein International Center

The Carole Weinstein International Center, scheduled for completion in fall 2010, will foster synergies among the University's five schools and academic disciplines as the University expands international education through:

- Internationalization of the curriculum

- Enhancement of teaching and research through collaborative efforts within the University and with colleagues at more than 60 partner institutions around the world

- Increased study abroad experiences for all students

- Integration of international students and scholars as full-fledged participants in classrooms, residence halls, and campus organizations. 

About the Carole Weinstein International Center

The 44,000-square-foot Carole Weinstein International Center will include:

- The Office of International Education

- The departments of Modern Literatures & Cultures and Latin American & Iberian Studies, Geography, Environmental Studies, International Studies, American Studies, and others

- Seven classrooms of extraordinary technical sophistication, which will allow Richmond faculty and students to collaborate in real time with professors and students at partner universities around the world.

- Languages Across the Curriculum and English as a Second Language programs that promote the use of various languages as part of study and conversations in all academic disciplines

- A wide range of variable teaching and social spaces to encourage ongoing interactions between faculty and students

- A Spatial Analysis Laboratory and a Global Studio, state-of-the-art facilities for languages and multi-media instruction.

How it Came to Be

The Weinstein family has supported a stunning array of projects at the University of Richmond, from Weinstein Hall for the social sciences to the gleaming new Center for Recreation and Wellness to several endowed professorships and scholarships.

Carole and Marcus Weinstein are alumni of the University of Richmond and their daughter Allison is a Board of Trustees member.  Allison and her husband Ivan Jecklin, joined with the Weinsteins to make the $5 million donation to build the new campus recreation center, the family's previous major gift.

Carole Weinstein has always had a special connection to Richmond's international education program.  Twenty years ago, while teaching freshman composition at her alma mater, she became keenly aware of the need for better opportunities for students to experience the world.  Since then, the Weinsteins have provided scholarships for international students known as Weinstein Scholars, funded Weinstein Grants for summer and non-summer international study and projects for students, faculty, and staff, and endowed the Carole M. Weinstein Chair of International Education, currently held by Dr. Uliana Gabara.

In August 2007, President Ayers announced the Weinstein's most recent gift in the form of $9 million to build a 40,000 square foot international center.

“The Carole Weinstein International Center,” Ayers said, “will be our door to the world, as we send out over 500 students a year to places all over the globe and welcome students from more than 70 countries to Richmond.  It will bring faculty from dozens of countries to the University and coordinate the ever-growing international work of our own faculty. It will help make the city of Richmond a destination for scholars, speakers, scientists, and leaders of all sorts.”

The Carole Weinstein International Center “will help every school at the University of Richmond deepen its connections with the world beyond the United States," Ayers said.  "In addition to providing much-needed classroom and meeting space, it will be a home for a spectrum of programs that tie us all together and to the world beyond.”

The Transformation

Click here to see photos from the ground breaking and on-going construction.

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