Villa Julie Expands to Owings Mills Campus
In June 2003, the College broke ground on its first campus-owned student housing complex in nearby Owings Mills. Apartment-style housing for 550 students and a community center opened in 2004. The College also leased classroom space on the same piece of land, allowing students to live and attend classes at the same location for the first time in Villa Julie history.
At the same time the College celebrated the grand opening of the housing complex in August 2004, ground was broken for the next phase of housing, which led to three suite-style buildings opening over the next two years. Those moves, along with the purchase of the former Baltimore Ravens training facility and the office building where the College leased classroom and office space, gave Villa Julie more than 80 acres of land at the Owings Mills campus.
In August 2006, the ninth residence hall opened at Owings Mills, and the resident population topped 1,000 students. The Rockland Center opened in October 2006 to provide a spacious student dining center, offices for Student Affairs, and a banquet hall for functions organized by on- and off-campus groups. In May 2007, the College broke ground on the next new building for Owings Mills, a 60,000-square-foot academic building to house the newly formed Brown School of Business and Leadership and other programs. The building was completed in fall 2008 and features a state-of-the-art mock trial courtroom. The University celebrated the opening of the new Brown School of Business and Leadership in April 2009 with a visit from entrepreneur and publisher, Steve Forbes. Additional expansion of the Owings Mills campus included the University's eleventh student residence hall, Wooded Way, which opened in fall 2009 and houses specialized student learning communities as well as the Office of Career Services and Learning Beyond Center.
Villa Julie celebrated this growth throughout the 2007-08 academic year as part of its 60th anniversary celebration. The College inaugurated a new tradition on October 1, 2007, by celebrating Founders Day to commemorate the day the College first opened. The anniversary celebration also included the announcement of a $20 million fundraising campaign to support a variety of initiatives across both campuses. The College received reaccreditation from Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools in 2008.