Retired hospital pharmacist David Bell (’76) and retired Eli Lilly executive Ron Schleif (’76) met as classmates at WSU in the mid-1970s. They became best friends while majoring in pharmacy and spent many hours musing about what the future would hold. One recurring conversation centered around how one day they wanted to see their names on a college building, signifying that they had made it financially. But their vision went one step further: they also thought how humorous it would be to combine their last names, Bell-Schleif, to name a BS meeting room. Fast forward 40 years, and their running joke became a reality when they joined forces in 2015 to name the Bell-Schleif Conference Room (unofficially known as the BS Conference Room) in the Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences Building on WSU’s Health Sciences campus in Spokane.
Although WSU’s Naming Committee turned down the request to officially name the space the “BS Conference Room” pharmacy staff, students, and faculty, often use the abbreviation. Alumni and friends who visit the campus and tour the building get a good chuckle after learning about the history behind the naming, as well as the enduring friendship behind it.
You can learn more about naming opportunities and other ways to give back to the college.