Villanova University to Transform Connelly Center, Enhancing Key Student Space at the Heart of Campus
Renovation Supported by $10 Million Gift from the Connelly Foundation, Building's Original Donor
VILLANOVA, Pa. (May 5, 2025) – Villanova will renovate and revitalize the Connelly Center, a student hub and central gathering space for the campus community for the past 45 years. The project will reinvigorate the building while maintaining its distinctive character. A gift from the Connelly Foundation originally funded the construction of the Connelly Center, which opened in 1980. The Foundation is now making a leadership gift to reimagine the building for today’s student needs, donating $10 million toward the renovation cost, which brings the Connelly Foundation’s total giving to Villanova to more than $44 million.
“Since its opening, the Connelly Center has been central to Villanova’s student experience and campus life, and our goal with the renovation is to ensure that the Connelly Center remains a vibrant hub for our entire community,” said University President the Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA, PhD. “I want to express my deep gratitude to the Connelly Foundation for its continued generosity and dedication to this hallmark building on Villanova’s campus.”
Designed to enhance student dining, gathering and event spaces, and accessibility throughout the building, work on the Connelly Center will take place over the summer and be completed by Fall 2025. The revitalized spaces will include a Commons on the ground floor of the Connelly Center, named in honor of Emily C. Riley, executive vice president emerita for the Connelly Foundation and a former member of the Villanova University Board of Trustees.
With the opening of Villanova’s Cabrini Campus in Fall 2026, the Connelly Center will increasingly serve as an important student hub for those traveling between campuses. The improvements to dining, study and lounge options will ensure the building is equipped to best serve Villanova students today and for generations to come.
“The Connelly Center has always been more than a building—it's a symbol of our founder’s enduring belief in the transformative power of Catholic education,” said Tom Riley, Chair of the Board and President of the Connelly Foundation. “This revitalization ensures that my grandparents’ legacy continues to shape Villanova’s students for generations to come, just as they envisioned when the Center first opened in 1980.”
The Connelly Center renovation maximizes a vital campus space and advances Villanova’s commitment to enhancing the student experience, fostering community, and creating collaborative spaces as part of the University’s 10-year Strategic Plan and Espiritus Nova: The Campaign for Villanova University.
About the Connelly Foundation: Connelly Foundation is a private grant making organization whose mission is to enhance the quality of life in the greater Philadelphia region. Established in 1955 by the late John F. and Josephine C. Connelly, its heritage is steeped in the integrity of its founders, who embodied the ideals of faith, uncommon vision and the manifest courage of their convictions.
Espiritus Nova: The Campaign for Villanova University reflects the strong, generous and unshakeable spirit that connects all Villanovans. With a goal of $1.25 billion, it is the most ambitions fundraising effort in the University’s history. Achieving this goal will strengthen Villanova’s academic preeminence, enrich the campus and amplify the University’s collective Augustinian Catholic impact—across the nation and around the world.
About Villanova University: Since 1842, Villanova University’s Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition has been the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University's six colleges—the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, the M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing, the College of Professional Studies and the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. Ranked among the nation’s top universities, Villanova supports its students’ intellectual growth and prepares them to become ethical leaders who create positive change everywhere life takes them. For more, visit www.villanova.edu.