The new eatery: Naming Madness is well underway (Netflix and immortality at stake)

RELEASED: February 21, 2008

DANVILLE, KY—Cowan Dining Commons is giving way to a new campus center at the heart of Centre College's campus. Major facilities do not build themselves overnight, however, and the need for a temporary dining facility has presented itself to the Centre community. A vacant warehouse on the corner of Perryville and Harding streets in Danville has been removed to make way for a new 20,000-square-foot metal building, scheduled for completion in June 2008.

The new building will act as the primary campus dining facility during the estimated 12–18 months it will take for Cowan Dining Commons to be removed and replaced with a combination campus center and dining hall. After that, the building will function as a multi-purpose facility for large-scale student activities and other campus uses to be determined.

And here's the fun part: the Communications Office has officially launched the "Name the New Eatery Contest," which gives current students, faculty and staff the opportunity to lay claim to a piece of Centre history.

Current students, faculty and staff are eligible to submit up to three names for the temporary dining facility. The deadline for submission of names is Wednesday, March 5, at 5 p.m. EST.

Current campus community members wishing to enter the contest should simply compose an email with "CONTEST" as the subject to adam.brown@centre.edu, and include up to three name suggestions for the new eatery. Entries with more than three suggestions will not be considered nor will multiple emails from the same entrant. In the event of duplicate suggestions, those submitted first will be given priority—so don't delay!

A series of votes by the current student body will begin on Thursday, March 13, after senior staff and the Communications Office have selected the top-64 suggestions. As the number 64 suggests, paralleling college basketball March Madness, the campus community will be engaged in "Naming Madness" during the succeeding weeks. In the first round of voting, students will be asked to select the "sweet 16" entries. In the second round, students will select the final four, and in the third, students will pick the winner. Two weeks will be allotted for the final round of voting, with the winner being announced in early April.

And while the honor of naming a building on Centre's campus (albeit temporarily) should be prize enough, the Communications Office wants to up the stakes with a few goodies on the side.

Both third- and fourth-place winners will receive a six-month subscription to unlimited Netflix DVD rental service with one DVD at a time. The second-place will receive a one-year subscription to unlimited Netflix DVD rental service with one DVD at a time.

And the first-place winner will receive a one-year subscription to unlimited Netflix DVD rental service with two DVDs at a time (along with seeing his or her entry emblazoned on the side of the new eatery in neon lights…or something similar but equally cool). Additionally, a permanent plaque will be installed in the building for future generations to peruse. And of course, all entries making it past the first round of voting will receive an array of Centre memorabilia.

Entries are being accepted now! Already, suggestions such as "The Metal Kettle," "McCowan's," and "Randy Hays' Super Duper Mega Food Emporium" have been made. Don't let this opportunity to be part of Centre history slip by!

- end -

Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Consumers Digest ranks Centre No. 1 in educational value among all U.S. liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

For news archives go to http://www.centre.edu/web/news/newsarchive.html.