Change is necessary for good things happen, and Kansas Wesleyan University did just that.

On Friday, KWU and the Salina Area Chamber of Commerce celebrated the Bieber family for the university’s new dining facility “Bieber Dining Hall” that opened this fall. The cafeteria was dedicated to KWU’s Board of Trustee member and alumnus Jeffrey Bieber and his wife Margie Bieber, who is an alumnus as well. Jeffrey Bieber tells KSAL News it is “very humbling” to have his family’s name on the university’s cafeteria.

“This is a place of solace, the education is awesome and we wanted to keep the people together” said Jeffrey Bieber. The university’s cafeteria was originally decided to be torn down and establish Bieber Dining Hall by Wesley Hall. Due to financial reasons, KWU and the Biebers opted to keep and remodel the cafeteria that is in Pfeiffer Hall. “The cost of demolition and rebuild was too big for the budget and it actually worked out for the better” said Jeffrey Bieber.

Jeffrey Bieber wants students to consider the dining hall their “filling station” as they journey along their college career.

KWU President Dr. Matt Thompson said the students were in “awe” when the cafeteria officially opened. He said the vision was to change the students, faculty and staff’s overall quality of the university’s experience for the better.

Dr. Thompson said companies who have contributed to the dining facility include Harbin Construction, Naturescape Lawn & Landscape, Jae’s Electric, Callabresi Heating & Cooling, Lancaster Construction, and KWU’s Plant Operations staff. JRI Hospitality is the university’s current food service provider that collaborated with KWU this past summer.

Jeffrey and Margie Bieber graduated from KWU in 1971.