Wanted: New Home. Must Accommodate 165,000+

Situated atop a bluff on the southern shore of Lake Raleigh on Centennial Campus, the Dorothy and Roy Park Alumni Center fulfills a 20-year dream for a formal gathering place for NC State alums. Made possible by a $5 million naming gift from Dorothy Dent Park of Ithaca, N.Y., the 59,000-square-foot facility honors both her late husband and his much-loved alma mater.

Featuring Italian marble flooring, double-curving staircases and a grand reception room with 28-foot ceilings, the center now stands as a welcoming home to NC State’s 165,000-plus alumni, giving them a gathering spot for reunions, a prime locale for post-game receptions and parties, and a comfortable place for university-related seminars.

Roy Park (’31) is known for many accomplishments, including his Park Communications Inc. media empire, as well as his 1949 launch of Hines-Park Foods with Duncan Hines, the author of popular consumer guidebooks — and cake mixes — of the day. Dorothy Park hopes her gift honoring Roy will inspire alumni to give back and help push their alma mater to even greater national prominence. “My husband and I always believed that the college years are just the beginning of university involvement,” she says.

In 1937, just six years out of college, Park was nominated for an Alumni Association committee. He accepted the appointment with customary zeal for service: “I will be very glad to serve and stand ready at all times to do anything possible. Please feel free to call upon me at any time you think I may contribute to the welfare of our college.” It’s fitting then that since its doors opened in 2006, the Dorothy and Roy Park Alumni Center has been a welcoming reminder of Roy Park’s spirit, drive and ambition.