The new Anderson Athletic Center was officially opened Tuesday, August 31 after 15 months of planning and construction.

“We all waited as the project developed,” Athletic Director Steve Fritz said at the ribbon cutting ceremony. “We waited with curiosity. We waited with enthusiasm, and certainly with patience. But I can guarantee you. The wait’s well worth it.”

The 20 solar panels on Brady Hall’s roof have been producing energy non-stop after being installed in February. The students who have been involved with the panels from idea to installation are happy with how the panels are working so far.

Students living on campus during the busiest construction summer in St. Thomas history watched as the metal frameworks of new buildings took shape, elevators were modernized, residence halls got exterior makeovers and sidewalks were torn up.

After 15 years in St. Thomas’ Brady Educational Center, the Rockey Grounds Espresso Bar will be replaced this fall with a university-run coffee cart.

The university made the decision this spring as part of a plan to use internal service providers, said Bruce Van Den Berghe, associate vice president of auxiliary and administrative services.

One St. Thomas law professor hopes to secure her spot as Republican candidate for the 4th Congressional District in Tuesday’s primary election.

This fall, student clubs will have to say goodbye to Davanni’s pizza, Noodles and Company dishes and Chipotle burritos at weekly convocation hour meetings.

The biggest change in the new purchasing regulations, and the change that will affect students most, is that food for any campus function will have to be ordered through campus catering services instead of from off-campus vendors.

St. Thomas mechanical engineering professor John Abraham ignited the blogosphere this June when he posted an online slideshow rebutting a speech by a British climate change skeptic.

This year’s incoming freshman class is on track to be the largest in St. Thomas history, with 1,522 students currently enrolled. The record class size is already posing challenges to university officials.

Going home for the summer is not an option for all St. Thomas students, especially when home is halfway around the world.

Many international students live at St. Thomas during the summer, including Linda Nininahazwe, a senior from the Republic of Burundi.

The three EF-4 tornadoes that swept through Minnesota June 16  killed three people, demolished parts of Albert Lea and Wadena, and destroyed the home of St. Thomas junior Justin Tucker.

Tucker was staying at his St. Paul house when the storm hit his hometown, but was preparing to head home for the weekend.

The St. Thomas Chamber Singers will perform at the 2011 American Choral Directors Association National Conference, and it’s the first time any St. Thomas choir has been invited to the national conference.

“This invitation is the highest honor a choir in the United States can receive,” Director of Choral Activities Angela Broeker said.

The Minneapolis campus cafeteria, Food for Thought, is St. Thomas students’ favorite place for on-campus food, according to a TommieMedia survey.

The survey, aimed at gauging current St. Thomas student’s satisfaction with on-campus food options, received a total of 469 responses from April 23 to May 14.

Graduates received their diplomas in an unfamiliar place Saturday. Commencement ceremonies were held at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, due to the construction of the Anderson Athletic and Recreation Complex.

Construction started Tuesday on the new Anderson Student Center. The City of St. Paul granted the highly anticipated permits Monday, allowing OPUS to break ground on the 20-month project.

The $66 million, 225,000-square-foot student center will feature four bowling lanes, a giant dance floor and an 1,800-square-foot atrium.

The Mathematics Resource Center reached its 10,000th visitor of the semester last Monday.

Director of the center Brenda Tiefenbruck said that in two years, the number of students signing in to use the MaRC services has doubled.