WORDS : MATT KENNEDY ART : BLAKE POOLE & LOGAN WAGNER
Sometimes, we really do need a break. A moment for ourselves. The daily demands of life — classes, relationships, family, jobs — can pick away at a student’s composure. Respite from all that chaos can range from exercise, to socializing, to sleep, to mindful meditation. Many colleges and universities have a space available for students to contemplate and reflect based on personal or religious beliefs. In January 2021, such a place is coming to Colorado Mesa University. The CMU Center for Reflection is in the final stages of the architecture and design process and will begin construction this summer. The university has planned to build a sanctuary/chapel building for the better part of the past three years and is in the final process before physical construction starts. The building is estimated to cost the university $1 million. “For a long time we’ve had
students, community folks, faculty and staff just talking about the fact that there really is no place for students to really take time for themselves,” CMU President Tim Foster said. “To just sit and decompress, reflect, pray if they want to pray or whatever, to contemplate life.” The new reflection center will be a non-denominational building and available to all CMU students to utilize for meditation, prayer and quiet time. The building will feature the sanctuary itself, which will be able to hold up to 70 people, according to Foster. There will also be a grass quad, enclosed atrium connected to the
