First-year students at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) have been officially welcomed with a celebration at a spectacular new events centre, The Venue@DMU.
Thousands of undergraduates starting their university career at DMU will visit the £5.4m building for a series of matriculation ceremonies.
The events mark the first use of The Venue@DMU - a total transformation, both inside and out, of the former John Sandford Sports Centre, in Western Boulevard, next to the university's QEII Leisure Centre.
The new students are seeing, first-hand, the Venue@DMU's full range of high-tech audio and visual equipment in action as they are treated to an impressive welcome to DMU at their matriculation ceremonies.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Dominic Shellard, together with the help of several students, including Adam Redfern, of De Montfort Students' Union, cut the ribbon to officially open the centre before addressing new undergraduates at the subsequent ceremonies.
He said afterwards: "The Venue@DMU is the first building we have opened as part of our £134 million campus transformation programme and it is an exciting landmark. Over the next year we will see more and more new buildings completed and I am confident that we will then have one of the best campuses in the whole of the UK. "
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The building will be used for university functions and events, and is also available for hire. It will be home to the new-look graduation ceremonies from January next year and also be used to host conferences, exams, performing arts rehearsals and larger events such as jobs fairs, private parties and weddings.
The Venue@DMU can accommodate up to 800 people and is a flexible space which can be divided into three mini-halls.
The Venue is also open for use by the local community and will be used for local and national conferences, private parties and weddings.
Posted on Tuesday 29 September 2015