Bede Student Center originally served as the campus dining hall. It was built in 1921 to serve a high school enrollment of about 155 students and was first known simply as the Dining Hall.

Bede Hall

Retta Bede

In 1969 it was dedicated in honor of Retta Bede, who served the NWSA from 1925 to 1957 as an instructor in home economics and preceptress in the girls' dormitory. (The original NWSA classroom building known as the Home Economics Building was the first building to bear the name Bede Hall in her honor, but it became unsafe and was razed in 1967.)

This plaque can be found outside the Ball Room in the Student Center.

Bede had judged at every county fair in northwest Minnesota and was highly respected by thousands of former students of the NWSA.

In 1980 Bede Hall was remodeled to serve as the student center.  The bookstore addition was built in 1982.

By the late 1990s the building had run into structural and accessibility problems as well as problems with asbestos, molds, and the electrical system.  It was deemed inadequate to meet the various needs of UMC's undergraduate enrollment of nearly 1,200 full-time students.  After careful consideration, including exploration of a possible renovation, a campus committee recommended replacement of the building with an entirely new facility in order to achieve a more functional student development center that would meet 21st century needs.

UMC in 2002 received Minnesota State Legislature funding for a replacement student development center as part of the University of Minnesota’s capital request. 

Bede Hall is removed to make room for new student Center.

Bede Hall was demolished on Monday, March 1, 2004, after more than 80 years of service to the campus.