Every Jr. Bill is sure to have noticed the construction happening at the south end of freshman and senior hallways, and the wall that has mysteriously moved forward a few feet. This is the site of what will soon be the Dill Center for Academic Success, a project two years in the making that is finally nearing completion.

The Dill Center is a part of the Go Forth Campaign, a $70 million program that originally launched in 2018 with a goal of continuing SLUH’s Jesuit tradition and commitment to excellence through a series of renovation projects and program enhancements, and by growing the school’s endowment for financial aid.

“The Go Forth campaign had several high-level objectives,” explained Director of Advancement Sean Agniel. “First, we wanted to ensure that financial aid would be available for any student capable of thriving at SLUH. The campaign also invested in our Jesuit Catholic mission and faith formation. We constructed a retreat center, and we're going to be renovating the chapel and building a new Campus Ministry center, as well as growing campus ministry and service programs. The third campaign objective is continuing the longstanding tradition of academic excellence at St. Louis U. High.”

As an institution constantly committed to academic excellence, SLUH is consistently working to provide students with top-notch facilities and resources, and the Dill Center is an important aspect of this mission.

“Resources have been secured to ensure that St. Louis U. High can continue to set the standard for academic excellence,” said Agniel. “The Dill Center will be a state of the art facility for academic leadership and student support services. This project will allow us to bring together academic administration with college counselors and student counselors into a shared physical space so that students can be more effectively supported.”

The groundbreaking ceremony for the Dill Center was originally held on March 3, 2020, but unfortunately due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the shutdown of the campus, the project was delayed. 

“We had a groundbreaking ceremony weeks before the world shut down,” said Agniel. “And then we stepped back and the school smartly took a conservative approach for how we were going to move forward on these significant capital projects. We wanted to make sure that our commitment to financial aid and supporting families facing extraordinary circumstances was our highest priority.”

Even through the difficulties and setbacks of the pandemic, the project will be completed by the end of June. Throughout the summer the faculty and staff will begin to make their transition into the new space, allowing for them to be fully moved in for the start of the 2022-2023 academic year.

The Dill Center will now be a combined home for the counseling department, college counselors, and administration, including the offices of Principal Ian Gibbons, S.J. and Assistant Principal for Student Life Brock Kesterson. 

“We’re going to have an experience of the administration being in their own area with college counseling and counseling offices, which will better enhance the experience for students coming through,” said Director of Facilities Joe Rankin. “That will just enhance the ability for people to understand that we're investing in our students by investing in the campus. The newly combined area will provide the community with a more welcoming, comfortable environment in which to continue to operate at SLUH’s customary level of excellence.”

The movement of three branches of the SLUH staff into the Dill Center will open up an expanse of space elsewhere on campus, which will allow for a wide range of possibilities for the future. One such possibility is a space dedicated to the SLUH student media groups such as the Prep News, Photography Club, Gadfly, and Yearbook.

“It has opened up creative conversations about how students and faculty might work together more effectively, and the opportunities that might be available to students with a more efficient and collaborative use of space,” said Agniel.

All of these expansions and improvements to the campus and school community are results of a multitude of generous benefactors that contribute to SLUH every year and have made special contributions to the Go Forth campaign.

“This has been made possible because of the amazing alumni, families, and donors that believe in SLUH, that believe in you students,” said Agniel. “Student mental health and wellbeing are important for you to be able to thrive and to achieve at a high level and pursue your faith in earnest. Many dedicated alumni and donors of SLUH, people most students will never see, are making the Dill Center possible. It is a privilege for all of us to be able to appreciate the selflessness and sacrifices that are behind the renewal of our campus. Underlying it all is a belief in the students of St. Louis U. High to go forth into the world under the banner of Christ as Men for Others.”