Board of Trustees vice chair Charlie Lydecker, SPA/BA ’85, and Christine “Chris” Lydecker, Kogod/BSBA ’86, Kogod/MS ’88, have spent their share of time traversing the grounds of American University. From their student-athlete days repping AU Swimming and Diving to recent years as active AU alumni, both Eagles are familiar with the paths and roadways mapping their alma mater’s 84-acre home.
So, when the opportunity to support and inspire today’s students on campus arose, the Lydeckers stepped up.
Thanks to Lydeckers’ generosity, the newly designated Lydecker Way and Tunnel commemorate their commitment to AU. The family’s gift supports the Student Thriving Complex and is part of the Change Can’t Wait campaign. The naming is also a part of the latest update in AU’s Exterior Wayfinding and Signage Master Plan Project.
The naming applies to the road connecting Glover Gate on Massachusetts Ave to the Hall of Science, as well as the tunnel between Bender Arena and the Mary Graydon Center. New signage installed the week of April 1 caps off the project.
Signage for Lydecker Tunnel on campus
“We are immensely proud to announce Lydecker Way and Tunnel and publicly recognize Charlie and Chris as true community-builders at AU,” says Vice President of University Advancement Courtney Surls.
The Lydecker family views the naming as a reflection of their wider philosophy about paying it forward—in whatever way—at AU.
“By definition, you want to leave the [university] better than when you get in,” Charlie says. “And so American University has just been a very, very important part of Chris' life and my life.”
High school sweethearts, Charlie and Chris Lydecker came to AU on swimming scholarships in 1981 and 1982 respectively. Both competed for the AU Eagles and built lasting memories from their time as student-athletes. Whether bonding with teammates during practices at the pool, gathering with peers in McDowell Hall, or celebrating campus traditions like Tuesday Nights at the Tavern, the Lydeckers found themselves steeped in AU’s unique community culture.
Speaking personally about his AU education, Charlie credits it as one of invaluable self-discovery.
“I grew up on the American University campus,” he says. “It was an instrumental time in my life where, as a young adult, I became prepared for the real world.”
Charlie graduated from AU with an ingrained sense of service and reciprocity. And he traces the start of his philanthropy to a return visit to 4400 Massachusetts Ave a few years later.
“Maybe 25 or 30 years ago, I was invited on campus with then-provost Dr. Neil Kerwin,” Charlie recalls. “It was an advisory committee that reconnected me with American University.”
He continues: “Walking on campus again—I decided right there that I was going to make sure I was very proactive in giving back.”
Chris echoes this sentiment. "We both had such a great experience at AU, it's been so important to us to give back," she adds.
Both Charlie and Chris Lydecker say the values and support they witnessed at their alma mater—including the scholarships that made it all possible—inform their desire to see today’s Eagles succeed.
“American University has been built on a very strong spirit of community service, regardless of degrees, so this is all very consistent with how we conduct ourselves,” says Charlie.
For the AU community, the roadway and tunnel naming is an outward expression of the Lydeckers’ commitment to the student experience on campus. The couple are excited by the transformative impact of the new Student Thriving Complex and champion its holistic focus on student wellbeing.
Through his service and leadership on AU’s Board of Trustees, Charlie thinks dynamically about what “thriving” means at AU. He posits it as a “catch-all for a whole universe of thought processes.”
“Student thriving is ultimately an output into the professional world, and for the rest of one's life,” he says. The role of AU then, “is to help an individual become a more beautiful person, a more successful person—however you want to define that.”
For Chris, student thriving is about ensuring that current and future Eagles feel empowered to forge their own paths.
“It is so important to us that AU continues to be a place where students realize their dreams, develop the tools they need to grow, and form lasting relationships that they’ll carry forward in their next steps.”
Lydecker Way and Tunnel enact this mission literally, connecting students with the spaces, resources, and services they need to build healthy lifelong habits.
In addition to supporting this next chapter for students at AU, the Lydeckers’ gift comes with practical significance. Campus improvement efforts over the past year have focused on the tunnel as a collective gathering place. Having a defined name solidifies this work and improves wayfinding—something that resonates anecdotally for Charlie.
“I have been in that tunnel for basketball games, for board meetings, and . . . it was always a sensitivity point with me on not being able to get a taxi or an Uber to figure out where I am,” he laughs. “So, this was an attempt to solve for that.”
The next time the Lydeckers need to order a taxi or rideshare on campus, the driver will know right where to go. Their eponymous way plots a central artery of campus life and connects people, places, and the hum of daily happenings at AU.
Both Charlie and Chris are proud of where AU has come from and where it's going. With their name penned upon this extroardinary moment for philanthropy in AU’s history, the Lydeckers lead by example in giving back to the next generation of students and the place all Eagles call home.
