Recent changes in the appearance of The Adams Center for Teaching and Learning have turned the once overlooked offices into a hub for students and faculty alike.

Garnished with handsome furniture, many have compared the new look of the Adams Center to more of a living room than a conference room for staff and faculty.

But that’s the purpose of the Adams Center, creating a place for staff and faculty to connect with one another in an environment of comfort and community.

Lesa Breeding, Director of the Adams Center, said that the drive for a great teaching and learning center was inspired by the many prestigious universities that offer similar resources.

“We hire a chemist because he’s an excellent chemist, they may or may not be excellent at teaching. The center for teaching and learning is designed to be a place that welcomes faculty to engage in dialogue about what it means to be the best teacher they can possibly be.” Breeding said.

The Adams Center does this by offering state of the art facilities including lavish conference rooms and a beautifully restored meeting place for faculty to convene. Lunches are also provided daily for staff members to meet and discuss.

“We wanted to create a place where faculty don’t have to make appointments or reservations but where they could just drop in. A place where they can informally gather.” Breeding said.

The Adams Center has created this atmosphere of casual comfort despite the external high quality and class of the facility. But the changes to the center go beyond the external modifications.

The vision of the Adams Center is simple: for faculty to engage in the lives and scholarship of other faculty. Breeding said being a part of a smaller community within the body of ACU brings rewards beyond that of this world.

“We try to be a place that lives out the verse of Luke 10,” Breeding said. “A place that welcomes the stranger, that welcomes the person who brings their gifts so that we can give and receive the gifts that we have from one another.”