Becker to officially mark opening of new $7.3M campus building

Grant Welker An old Becker College building formerly used for functions has been renovated into a new home for MassDiGI, lab space and other uses.

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By Grant Welker

The Colleen C. Barrett Center for Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship, which will enable growth of Becker College's renown video game design program, will receive an official grand opening ceremony Wednesday with state and other officials.

The center opened in January and has drawn to campus the video game start-up Petricore, which was founded by a group of Becker alumni. It is also host to the Massachusetts Digital Games Institute, known as MassDiGI.

The ceremony will take place Wednesday at 3 p.m. and include Becker President Nancy Crimmin, Worcester City Manager Edward Augustus, Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Jay Ash, and Linda Cruz-Carnall, the regional director of the U.S. Economic Development Administration.

The center, in a renovated and expanded former building for college functions at 80 William St., includes labs, collaborative spaces and offices, giving Becker's video game program room to grow.

Becker's video game program began a decade ago with just 12 students and has grown since into a major component of the college's academic focus and expanded the school's reputation. The 600 students in the program make up one-third of Becker's student body, and the program was ranked fifth among the best undergraduate game design programs by the Princeton Review last year.

Petricore and MassDiGI moved into the center from 20 Franklin St. in downtown Worcester.

The center is named for Colleen C. Barrett, a former president of Southwest Airlines and a Becker alumna.