A little bit of rain doesn’t stop McNeese State University.

Despite an incoming storm, officials hosted a groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday morning for the new McNeese State University Student Union.

McNeese President Wade Rousse said this was business as usual.

“If you’ve been with us for the last three and a half, four years, unless there’s a cow flying by or a house blowing over … you’re not really affected by this.”

The “innovative” facility will play a “critical role” in preparing students for an ever-changing, ever-evolving world, said President of the Student Government Association Drew Brown.

The Student Union will hold the new cafeteria, meeting rooms, a ballroom, study areas, workspace for student organizations, and the Rodeo Museum. The site previously occupied by the old post office and student services will be transformed into green space.

The facility will connect the Quad and Cowboy Way, a scenic walking path that will stretch from Student Central through the campus to the Student Union.

The total estimated cost of the facility is $32 million. Director of Facilities Kevin Martin thanked the McNeese Foundation for providing $8 million for the project, interest-free.

Rousse said the facility is an investment for the students. To ensure the new student union was optimized for student life, members of the Student Government Association have been a part of the planning process.

“These folks tasked themselves to build a union that they knew they would never be able to be a part of,” he said.

Brown was a sophomore in high school when the plans for the new student union solidified in 2019. Now, he is a senior in college.

“It has been a very long, collaborative effort.”

The new student union will be more than “steel, glass and concrete,” he said, but will be a symbol of unity and progress for McNeese.

“It will be a place where students from all disciplines can come together to share ideas and forge life-long relationships. It’ll be a hub of activity where active, social and cultural life can be celebrated.”

The success of the new student union is thanks to a foundation that was laid out by Former President of McNeese Daryl Burckel, Rousse said.

“He was instrumental in getting all of this done.”

At the groundbreaking, Burkel said the university realized the need for a new student union 15 years ago, but did not have the funds. The “old ranch” was built in 1965, and the “new ranch” just over a decade later.

The effort to build a new student union has been “generational,” spanning multiple leadership teams and multiple student bodies.

“You see an institution move forward little by little, you end up realizing that it’s passing the torch from one to the next that keeps it going,” he said.

The destruction that Hurricane Laura left in its wake opened up new opportunities for the student union, he recalled. The damage to Fararr Hall was too extensive.

“Fararr Hall was so severely damaged that we realized that it was not worth repairing,” Burckel said. “We could utilize our space more effectively by not having that building. … It gave us this side of the quad to reimagine our student union.”

The new Student Union will now be a “centerpiece” of the quad. closing it in alongside the Burton Business Center, Kaufman Hall and the “New Ranch.”

The new Student Union is slated to be completed in January 2026. The “old ranch” will be torn down shortly after.