New Sorenson Center Grand Opening set for May 3

Utah State University and the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services will officially unveil the new Sorenson Legacy Foundation Center for Clinical Excellence with a variety of events Thursday, May 3.

A ribbon cutting ceremony will begin at 12:30 p.m. and feature speeches by Utah Lt. Governor Spencer Cox, Sorenson Legacy Foundation President Joseph Sorenson, USU President Noelle Cockett and Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services Dean Beth Foley. Distinguished donors, including board members of the Sorenson Legacy Foundation and Lisa Eccles of the George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation, are planning to attend.

From 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., public tours will held at the Sorenson Center. Members of the USU community are invited to explore the state-of-the-art, 100,000-square-foot-facility. Clinic directors and faculty will be on hand to answer questions about individual clinics.

The day of celebration will conclude with the Grand Opening Gala at 7:30 p.m. at the Daines Concert Hall in the Chase Fine Arts Center. The event performances by professional hip-hop dancer and choreographer Chris Fonseca, who is deaf. Fonseca is based in London and has performed around the world. Free and open to the public, the gala will also feature three numbers by the USU Chamber Singers under the direction of Cory Evans, as well as complimentary Aggie Ice Cream. 

The Sorenson Legacy Foundation Center for Clinical Excellence is a unique, advanced facility where integration of research, academic and clinical services enables training for students, interdisciplinary research among faculty and clinicians and comprehensive clinical services for clients statewide and regionally. The Sorenson Center is the result of USU’s strength in providing outstanding real-world service and research opportunities to students and faculty in human service disciplines. A first of its kind in the Mountain West, the center is designed to strengthen interdisciplinary training and deliver research and clinical services across the human lifespan. With focused outreach to low-income and underserved minority populations, thousands of individuals, couples and families across Utah and the region will benefit.

“For decades, the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services has offered a comprehensive array of clinical services, while training future generations of researchers and human service professionals,” stated Dean Beth Foley. “Until now, these services operated independently across many locations on the Utah State University campus. 

“Our work has taught us the value of an interdisciplinary approach to outstanding care, training and research. It is with this in mind that we created the Sorenson Legacy Foundation Center for Clinical Excellence — a single, comprehensive facility that offers interdisciplinary care, teaching and research across the entire lifespan.”

Among specialized classrooms and other features, the Sorenson Center houses an advanced nursing simulation lab, a hydrotherapy pool, a speech-language clinic, a memory clinic, early childhood education classrooms, a movement research clinic, a hearing and balance clinic, behavioral health services, a teaching kitchen and a café named Beth’s Bistro, in honor of Foley. 

The Sorenson Legacy Foundation Center for Clinical Excellence is located at 1005 E. 850 North in Logan. To access, turn north off of U.S. Hwy. 89 (400 North) onto 1200 East, then turn west onto 850 North (between the tennis courts and Logan City Cemetery). Parking is available on the north and northwest side of the facility. 

Contact: Rebecca Dixon, rebecca.dixon@usu.edu, (435) 797-1463
Writer: Jeff Hunter, jeff.hunter@usu.edu, (435) 797-1429