Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management had one clear message for attendees of its open house Thursday: Thunderbird is back.
“A great alumus once said to us, ‘Thunderbird is an idea, not a place,’” Thunderbird Dean Sanjeev Khagram said. “And we are alive and well.”
The open house involved a self-guided tour of the Arizona Center, the school’s temporary location until its new building finishes construction, which is expected to be completed in April 2021. Thunderbird was previously stationed at ASU’s West Campus in Glendale after merging with the university in 2014.
This is the first semester Thunderbird students have attended classes at the interim location. And the Downtown campus has felt different for some students, having come from a tight-knit community in Glendale.
“We have the mix of people, but we don’t have the environment to hang out as much,” Thunderbird student Amanda Cardini said.
Bryce Bower, another Thunderbird student, said at the old campus, the dorms and pub allowed the community to do everything together, and an open-space allowed for club involvement.
Cardini said the modern office setting Thunderbird is now located in can make it hard to maintain a connection with faculty and other students.
“It doesn’t feel like school to me,” Cardini said. “It feels like I’m walking into work.”
Khagram said a move can be challenging, but it also creates new possibilities. While walking through the modern halls, visitors can still see the string of history in pictures, dates and historical memories along the walls.
“We have this new, fresh space, new classrooms, new technology, but we brought Glendale with us,” Khagram said. “We want to make sure that we always connect with our history.”
Guests were shown three floors that hold Thunderbird clubs, organizations and staff departments, and tried food samples that reflected the international culture of the school.
Thunderbird primarily offers graduate degrees and certificates in international management and business. It also offers executive education programs that the school is hoping to integrate with current downtown programs including law, healthcare and public service.
Jay Thorne, Thunderbird’s chief external relations officer, said the open house served as a chance for the downtown and ASU communities to get a taste of the Thunderbird culture and gain a better understanding of it.
“The move downtown is a move closer to ASU — both physically and in the way we’re going to function,” Thorne said. “It was a big transition, but I think now that we’re down here, people have seen that it works.”
One of the goals of Thunderbird’s relocation is to help Phoenix become a more global city.
“We want to show the Phoenix community what Thunderbird is, and how global it is,” Bower said. “We know how to interact with other cultures, and most people here speak two or three languages.”
When Thunderbird’s official building is finalized for its 75th anniversary, Thorne said “a true, new start” will allow Thunderbird to begin its new chapter.
“This is a transition period, and we’re trying our best to make it feel like it has always felt and like it will feel,” Thorne said. “There’s no escaping the three year period where we’re in a temporary home, but it’ll be good to be in a place where we can really put down our roots a little bit more.”
Contact the reporter at amalabad@asu.edu.
