Renovated Building to be Renamed in Honor of Father McGivney

Keane Hall, will be remodeled and renamed McGivney Hall in honor of the Order's founder, Father Michael J. McGivney.

The Knights of Columbus will provide an $8 million grant to The Catholic University of America (CUA) for the renovation of a prominent building on the university’s campus. The announcement was made April 28 by CUA president Father David M. O’Connell, C.M. during the annual American Cardinals Dinner in Washington.

The donation, which is the largest the Order has ever made to the university, will be used to renovate Keane Hall, a 35,000-square-foot limestone building located on CUA’s central mall. Built in 1958, the modern-classical structure was the university’s original physics research facility.

Renovations are expected to last two years. Once completed, the building will be renamed McGivney Hall in honor of Father Michael J. McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus. McGivney Hall will serve as the new home for the North American campus of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, a graduate school of theology affiliated with the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome as well as CUA.  It currently occupies administrative and classroom space at CUA’s national seminary, Theological College, across Michigan Avenue from the main campus.

“The Knights of Columbus enjoys a long and well-regarded relationship with Catholic University,” said Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson, who is a member of CUA’s board of trustees and the vice president of the John Paul II Institute.

“In keeping with that relationship, as well as with the Order’s desire to support and promote Catholic higher education, I am pleased to make this grant on behalf of our 1.7 million Knights and their families, and I share Father O’Connell’s confidence that it will enhance the mission of Catholic University and the Pope John Paul II Institute for many years to come.”

This photo, from the Knights Tower of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, shows Keane Hall  at the lower right. The building is prominently located on the mall at the center of CUA's campus.