Talking Stick - July/August 2017 - 45

Outstanding Corporate Friend Award

Steve Emer

Mackey Mitchell Architects
The recipients of this award are corporate colleagues and partners who have
contributed to ACUHO-I and the campus housing profession by supporting
the educational mission and service goals of ACUHO-I.

or the past 17 years,
Mackey Mitchell Architects has been a highly
engaged supporter of
ACUHO-I's mission as
well as a contributor to college and
university efforts to develop exceptional residential experiences. Steve
Emer exemplifies that commitment
to quality student housing design
and encourages the firm's involve-

ment at all levels of ACUHO-I, from
conference educational opportunities
to exhibiting and sponsoring, case
studies, webinars, and attendance.
Steve's extensive experience as
an architect committed to creating successful student life projects
allows him to handle even the most
challenging projects with quiet confidence. He has worked with housing
officers across the country and is

When do you first remember being aware of ACUHO-I, and
why did you get involved with the Association?
As a young architect who worked on student housing projects, it wasn't until
I attended my first annual ACUHO-I conference several years ago (I was asked
to take the place of a colleague who had a last-minute conflict) that I understood how critical it was for architects and designers to join housing professionals in the exchange of challenges and ideas for addressing those challenges. From those personal interactions, it was clear to me how architects
can become more effective problem-solvers.
My mentor, firm founder Gene Mackey, always reminded me of the importance of providing a welcoming, home-like place for students to return to after
long hours in class. It's a seemingly simple goal, but easy to lose sight of. It
is seldom stated in a program document or mission statement. He was fond
of using descriptive and evocative terms like "whimsy," "charm," "serendipity," and "delight." This is one of the fundamental challenges for housing
professionals and designers who dedicate themselves to providing memorable
residential experiences that will stir emotions for a lifetime.
Earlier in my career, many institutions were just starting to become
interested in exploring ways of integrating living-learning communities into
residence hall programs. Today, there are numerous issues to be addressed
ranging from accommodations that promote gender inclusivity, how to adequately meet the needs of international students, and housing specially tailored to meet the unique needs of each student age level (particularly ways of
retaining older students on campus longer). Also, the tenets from the ACUHO-I
21st Century Project continue to be as imperative to consider today as when
the conversations on the topic began more than a decade ago.

active in ACUHO-I as a presenter and
collaborator. An excellent listener,
his steady and deliberate nature coupled with his witty sense of humor
make him the architect of choice for
clients. Steve is heavily involved in
all projects from the design phase
through construction administration.
He joined Mackey Mitchell in 1996
and was elected president of the
firm in 2013.
Sean Duggan, managing director of student housing at Texas Tech
University, endorsed Steve's work,
citing the "professionalism, ingenuity,
hard work, creativity, and dedication"
he provided in creating beautiful,
academic-focused living-learning
environments.
Steve's connection to campus
architecture was forged early on. He
describes one of his earliest experiences being a trip to visit the older
residential buildings at Penn, Princeton, and Yale. "It was a research trip
for a new housing village we were
designing," he says. "Our focus was
the study of the Collegiate Gothicinspired halls built almost 100 years
ago. This experience taught me the
value of learning from other campuses, but to always understand those
aspects that are needed to make a
project appropriate for that unique
campus and consider how each institution and student body is special
and distinct. The project needs to
reflect those attributes and be an
extension of the campus collective."

2017 ACUHO-I WALL of HONOR
July + august 2017

Talking Stick - July/August 2017

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