March 19, 2024

Dear Johns Hopkins Club Members:

As spring arrives, I would like to take a moment to provide updates on the Club and upcoming events.

As you know, significant maintenance issues of the facility coupled with the pandemic, led us to move into today’s virtual format. I thank the many members who continue to express interest in the Club’s future, new members, and the Book Circle for keeping the Club going until we have a permanent place to gather again.

In a recent meeting with Johns Hopkins University President Ron Daniels, I learned that the University is continuing its work to secure philanthropic funds for the major renovations of the old Club building and is undergoing feasibility studies for how best to optimize the space.  I also learned that the University’s Milton S. Eisenhower Library (MSEL) on the Homewood Campus is closing for its much-needed renovation, including the introduction of proper fire management systems for the facility.

President Daniels shared that the University has decided to enlist spaces across the campus to provide students with alternative areas for study and for the continuity of library functions during MSEL’s closure, and, to that end, has decided to re-open the Club building on a limited basis for study and library functions only with no food and space rentals. While this will not delay the ultimate project, the University wanted to be transparent in its use of the building to support its academic mission.

President Daniels also reaffirmed that the University is committed to providing Club members appropriate and priority access to spaces within the facility once the new building has been renovated. The University is working to secure the funding needed to renovate and upgrade the building to have a new dining facility, convening spaces for alumni and others, and gallery spaces for various art exhibitions. Moreover, he added that, in addition to access to other University spaces, Hopkins has helped negotiate a relationship for us with the new Study Hotel on Charles Street. The Study has meeting rooms for us to gather in, a parking garage, and, importantly, a warm and inviting restaurant for meals and drinks.

I hope you will join me and other Club members at a special spring gathering so that we may catch up with one another properly over a meal and tour The Study. An invitation will be sent soon, and I hope to see many of you there.

Rev. Christopher Dreisbach, PhD.
President, The Johns Hopkins Club