WSU Tri-Cities building being dedicated to Elson Floyd

The West Building on the Washington State University Tri-Cities campus will have a new name May 3.

The general classroom building on the Richland campus will be dedicated to former WSU President Elson Floyd.

Floyd became the university’s president in 2007 but died of complications from colon cancer two years ago.

Mark Mansperger, a clinical associate professor of anthropology at WSU Tri-Cities, suggested changing the Richland building’s name to honor the former president’s contributions at both the Tri-City campus and the university as a whole.

He brought the suggestion to administrators, who supported the move.

Floyd’s legacy will live on during the upcoming years, said WSU Tri-Cities Chancellor Keith Moo-Young.

“He lived the Cougar spirit and was beloved by many,” Moo-Young said. “We are thrilled to honor him and his family by dedicating one of our buildings in his honor.”

Moo-Young’s sentiment was echoed by Karina Barajas, a WSU Tri-Cities principal assistant who worked with Floyd at Pullman.

“He was everything I pictured a great leader to be — a man of stature, he would walk into a room and you could easily see and feel the love he had for WSU and for all of us Cougs as students and as employees,” she said.

The public ceremony is 10 a.m. outside of the building’s front entrance. Light refreshments will be available after the dedication.

The university’s 10th president led efforts in the state Legislature to allow WSU to create a medical school. The first crop of medical students at the school, which bears his name, are expected to start classes in the fall.

During his tenure, 30 construction projects were finished, including the WSU Tri-Cities’ Wine Science Center.

This story was originally published April 24, 2017 at 6:31 PM with the headline "WSU Tri-Cities building being dedicated to Elson Floyd."