In January 2025, the College’s new Enrollment Welcome Center opened on the first floor of O’Kane Hall, welcoming potential future Crusaders to Holy Cross. Home to information sessions, events, and the starting and ending point for campus tours, the new space, previously home to the College’s Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery, was a chance to reimagine the campus visit experience for prospective students and their families. Everything about the 2,692-square-foot area – from the seating options to the technology to the location itself – was designed to make a Mount St. James visit as accessible — physically and emotionally — as possible, according to Lynn Verrecchia ’01, director of admission.
“Despite any excitement they have, families are already feeling nervous, anxious, concerned,” she says. “We can’t improve the family dynamic. We can’t fully stop the emotional rollercoaster. We can’t change the weather, but if we can make it feel, like, ‘I got here and I know what I’m doing,’ I think that goes a long way. Making it feel like more of a serene, calm experience can do a lot for the psyche.”
COME ON IN
For many visitors, their first impression of Holy Cross is driving up and parking on Linden Lane. Moving the Enrollment Welcome Center out of a small, potentially difficult-to-find office in Fenwick Hall down the hallway into O’Kane provides a seamless wayfinding experience for prospective students and their families, alleviating any anxiety or confusion about where to go. “This is the front door of the campus,” Verrecchia says of O’Kane’s entrance on Linden Lane. “It’s where we need to be.”
YOU ARE HERE
A feature wall sporting an interlocking “HC” is the first thing visitors see upon entering O’Kane Hall. The goal was not only to introduce something beautiful, Verrecchia explains, but also to serve as a clear signal that the visitor is at Holy Cross, not a space that could be found on any other campus. Rather than installing an official front desk in the center, a member of the admission staff is available to check in visitors and welcome them into the space through informal opportunities, such as getting a cup of coffee or mingling with current students.
“COULD THAT BE ME?”
Seating options that span the O’Kane 1 hallway outside the Enrollment Welcome Center provide a space for current students to take a quick break or hunker down for a study session. This has the added benefit of allowing visitors to get a glimpse of life on campus. “We know how valuable it is for visitors to see real life on campus,” Verrecchia says. “You see a student who is studying intently or having a laugh with friends or having a cup of coffee, and you start to say, ‘Could that be me?’”
A STORY OF BELONGING
The display cases in the hallway outside the center feature objects that represent students’ stories about their Holy Cross experience. Visitors can scan a QR code, which allows them to hear students share, in their own words, the moments they fell in love with Holy Cross.
TOUCH AND SEE
An interactive table in the center of the room allows visitors to explore the campus map, watch videos and dive deeper into areas of interest.
SHOW DON’T TELL
Verrecchia says one of the most important center features is a large dedicated space where admission staff can give multimedia presentations about the College. Previously, the Office of Admission had to borrow presentation space from locations like Rehm Library and Hogan Campus Center, which posed logistical, technical and scheduling challenges. Now, the office is able to run information sessions and tours four times a day every day the College is open, including Saturdays, and an expanded number of opportunities, such as essay and interview workshops, for prospective students.
The Office of Financial Aid will also be using the space to welcome visitors and assist current students.
“We’re excited to leverage the Enrollment Welcome Center as a teaching space — hosting practical presentations and hands-on help sessions that make financial aid clear, accessible and actionable for every student,” says Nicole Cunningham, director of financial aid.
Flexible seating arrangements accommodate a variety of presentation styles, audience comfort levels and accessibility needs.
Three 75-inch screens provide a muchneeded upgrade to the Office of Admission’s presentation toolkit. When they’re not in use during a presentation, videos are shown that introduce visitors to aspects of Holy Cross they might not encounter during a tour, such as the city of Worcester, athletic events and faculty members. Museum-style directional audio plays when a person stands directly in front of a screen, allowing them to hear the video without disrupting the rest of the center.
A ROOM WITH A VIEW
As construction began to convert the space from the Cantor Art Gallery to the Enrollment Welcome Center, “the very first thing that happened was opening up those windows,” which were previously a mix of wood and glass to protect the gallery’s collections on display, Verrecchia says. After moving to all-glass, “we were immediately blown away,” she adds. The new glass windows offer an abundance of natural light, a view of Memorial Plaza courtyard and a taste of campus’ four seasons.
A HISTORICAL BALANCING ACT
The first floor of O’Kane Hall has had a variety of uses over its 130 years. For much of the 20th century, it was known as O’Kane Lounge, or The Porter’s Lodge. From 1983 to 2022, it was home to the Cantor Art Gallery, before it moved to the Prior Performing Arts Center. Updating the historic space with modern amenities was a “balancing act,” according to Verrecchia. “This is a place with a lot of nostalgia,” she says. “Holy Cross is the place where so much changes and the important things stay the same. Tangential to that is seeing these historical buildings that carry so much significance for people juxtaposed with these new facilities. But it doesn’t feel mismatched to me. The College has done a really good job of integrating the old and the new.”
