University President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg joined a host of University administrators and students in dedicating the Marvin Center’s Marc C. Abrahms Great Hall Friday.

Calling the event the “culmination of a friendship that began a quarter of a century ago,” Trachtenberg joined Marc Abrahms, an insurance executive and philanthropist who University officials said donated “generously” to the project.

Trachtenberg, who arrived late to the ceremonies sporting a leather aviator’s cap, an ankle-length fur-lined leather coat and Timberland hiking boots, gave a moving speech at the gathering, calling Abrahms a “great American.”

“People give to universities for lots of reasons,” Trachtenberg said. “Sometimes it is out of the goodness of their hearts.”
Abrahms helped Trachtenberg unveil a plaque dedicating the Marvin Center addition.

“I love this space. The light is beautiful in here,” Abrahms said. “It is a wonderful spot at the center of campus, and I hope that people here at the University can make the best use of it.”

The walls of the Great Hall feature photographs by Abrahms, a published photographer, who donates the proceeds from his books of photographs to charitable causes, including funds for diabetes research.

Abrahms selected the prints on display, which were printed by National Geographic.

Trachtenberg also shed light on one of the campus’ most intriguing mysteries, the gold column that stands in the newly dedicated hall. In his speech, he related two legends about the column. The first says that it had been found by Abrahms on a trip abroad and sent to the Smithsonian for restoration. A second “theory” is that the column was uncovered during the construction of the Great Hall and restored at the Smithsonian.

In an interview with The Hatchet, however, the president confided the true origins of the enigmatic campus icon.

“It is a symbol tying the University to classical times,” Trachtenberg said. “It is just designed to stimulate conversation.”

The Great Hall is the centerpiece of a three-year, $20 million project begun in the Marvin Center in 1998, which included additions to the third floor, J Street and the GW Bookstore.