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facilities
GSB Statement Clarifies Facts about
I-House
The university’s decision to close the International House residential hall prompted protests last  spring from students and alumni who once lived there. In the passionate debate that arose over the issue, Chicago GSB’s role in the I-House matter was mischaracterized on campus and misstated in e-mails sent to many alumni. To clarify the school’s role, below is a summary of the GSB’s official statement on I-House.
In 1998, the GSB administration notified the university that the school wished to build an M.B.A. residence hall and asked for potential sites. This request resulted from the deliberations of a special task force of the GSB advisory council; this task force included council members, students, staff, and faculty, as well as the dean’s office. The university administration informed the GSB of the university’s previous decision to close the I-House building, urging the GSB to purchase it so that it would not remain boarded up and vacant. The GSB believed it would be a “white knight” for the university.
In January 1999, the chairman of the I-House board contacted Dean Robert S. Hamada to discuss a possible sale of the building. The GSB met several times with at least five members of the I-House board to discuss conditions of a sale. The conversations included ways to accommodate I-House residents and activities––for example, the possible sharing of public spaces and offering to I-House residents all 40 rooms in the New Graduate Residence Hall that are reserved for GSB students. In all discussions, the GSB basis for the purchase price was the appraised value of the I-House property.
The GSB never reached an agreement with either the university or the I-House board on conditions under which the GSB might control the I-House property. Likewise, the business school did not participate in any decision to raze I-House. In fact, the school consulted with Porphyrios Associates, a London firm considered to be the world’s leading expert in collegiate Gothic architecture, on how best to preserve the I-House facade for safe residential use. Porphyrios Associates recently completed major additions to Magdalen College (Oxford) and Selwyn College (Cambridge), among other noteworthy Gothic structures.
Throughout this time, the GSB considered sites other than the I-House property for its residence hall and continues to do so.
In summary, the GSB played no role in the decision to close the I-House building. It accepted this decision as a fact and acted in good faith with the university and representatives of the I-House board. The mischaracterized rumors had “cause and effect” exactly backwards.
Ultimately, in response to the wishes of current and former I-House residents, the university agreed last June to maintain the building’s public spaces and to preserve as much of its residential space as possible.
GSB in Brief contents
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