Meeting Calls for Student Center

For undergraduates looking for a place to meet with their student group, see a show or just hang out on the weekends, Loker Commons and its infamous LED board may not quite cut it.

But at last night's "town meeting" of student group leaders and Undergraduate Council members, the dream of a new and improved student center may have come one step closer to reality.

Held at the ARCO Forum, the meeting was co-sponsored by the council and the Harvard Political Union. About 40 students, including several representatives from campus publications and cultural organizations, attended the hour-long discussion.

"The student center is something everyone seems to talk about, and everyone seems to be talking about something different," said council President Noah Z. Seton '00, who opened the forum.

Seton stressed that the initiative "will require the collaboration of every student group on campus."

"Student groups are going to have to be the energy behind the initiative," he said. "To keep it moving, we need your help."

Seton and other council officers cited a lack of student group offices and performance space as the major problems the center would solve.

"These groups don't have a room with a computer and a file cabinet. They're working out of a desk. That's wrong," said Council Vice President Kamil E. Redmond '00.

Seton also said social space is another important concern.

"With the decline of House life due to randomization, students need a place to gather," he said.

Samuel C. Cohen '00, who chairs the council's Student Center Working Group, spoke about "the new emphasis on cross-campus community" and said he hoped the student center would "serve as a new focal point."

Cohen, who served as the council's vice president last year, said he envisioned "a mall-type area" that would house small businesses such as photocopying services and a mail depot, as well as a casual study space.

"You can think of this area...as a Ticknor Lounge with a food court," he said.

Redmond also addressed the question of how ethnic and women's groups would fit into the council's vision. She suggested separating the building into "wings," housing offices for similarly themed organizations in the same areas.

"We need a space where groups can talk together and have a general discourse on ideas," Redmond said, recommending that offices for publications, counseling groups, cultural groups and others be clustered by category.

But Jason B. Phillips '99, vice president of the Black Students Association (BSA), warned against the "self-segregation" the separate wings might promote.

"The last thing [the BSA] would want to do is move into an 'ethnic' wing," he told the audience.

"It will have a stigma," Phillips added after the forum ended.

Redmond emphasized that the center would still be "an open space" and that the wings were designed not to separate student groups but to bring them together.

"I do think creating this space and bringing these groups together is a great idea," she explained, citing the recent Cultural Rhythms festival as "a great example of how ethnic organizations can come together."

Reaction from campus leaders who attended was generally positive, but several said they felt that there were still issues to be worked out.

"I definitely support the initiative they're taking," said Tony Yung '00, co-president of the Chinese Students Association.

Yung expressed concern about the feasibility of some of the council's ideas.

"If you're going to give office space to 241 groups.... It seems kind of difficult. But I like the cause," he said.

Phillips agreed.

"It's a good idea," he said. "It just needs to be more clearly defined."