The long-awaited Student Center opened for occupants on Monday, December 2, 2019 after a series of lengthy delays in its remodeling over of the course of the past year. Several student organizations, alongside the Office of Student Affairs and others, moved their offices out of the Wesley J. Howe Center and into the building formerly known as Alexander House on Monday. The building is also now home to a new game room, several common areas and meeting spaces, and the Intercultural Space. The basement of the building will eventually hold storage space for more student organizations. Many of these facilities, including the storage rooms, game room, and student organization offices, are direct replacements for facilities formerly located in Jacobus Hall before its late 2018 closure.
The building was originally scheduled to reopen in January 2019; this date was pushed back several times until its official reopening on December 2.
Organizations which moved into the new building include The Stute, The Link, Castle Point Radio (WCPR), the Honor Board, and the Student Government Association (SGA). All of these organizations were previously housed in Jacobus Hall and had been operating out of temporary office space on the 7th floor of the Howe Center in the interim. Audrey Dsouza, Editor-in-Chief of The Stute, said of the building that “[t]he parts that are complete are wonderful, which is a relief considering how long the building took. We love our new office and are very excited about how it’s like the new Jacobus.” SGA President Jason Chlus said, “I think the building is a huge upgrade! I think the building is going to be awesome for students and hopefully they really like it. The move in seems to be going well and I am looking forward to it being open for all.” SGA Vice President of Finance Elena Malova stated that she did not have an opinion on the new building as it is not finished yet, but expects to have one when the student organizations which are slated to have storage space in the basement are able to utilize those spaces.
Currently, those organizations are using temporary storage space located in the basement of Humphreys Hall. However, this storage space is inconvenient for organizations and has caused personal and operational difficulties for the leadership of several organizations, as previously reported in The Stute.
Laina Emmons, General Manager of WCPR, said that they are “super pumped” about the new space. “We’re glad to be back on air and start having shows again so that the Stevens community can be more involved with our club. We’re excited to have a space we can customize-ish because we can now express our personality through it whereas in Howe we were not able to decorate or play music and it really hurt our morale.” Former General Manager Dylan DiGeronimo said that he thinks “it’s great that WCPR is now in a space purpose-built for radio broadcasting, and I’m very optimistic about what this space is going to enable for the future of the club as well as all of the organizations who’ve moved in alongside us.”
The Stute reached out to the Stevens administration with regard to the reopening of the building. Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Sara Klein wrote that “I’m absolutely thrilled with the new Student Center. The team in Student Affairs and the student organizations are happily settling in to their new offices and we’ve already had so many students come to hang out, study, play pool, and socialize. We love all of the new space for students and we already feel that the building will facilitate an even stronger Stevens community. I want to give a sincere thank you to all of the people at Stevens who came together to make this renovation possible.” Lisa DeMarco, Director of Design and Construction in the Division of Facilities and Campus Operations, wrote, “[i]t was a pleasure overseeing the reconstruction of the Alexander House into the new Student Center. While challenging at times, due to the age of the structure, witnessing the transformation of this building has been a highlight of my tenure at Stevens. As an alumni, I want to extend a warm welcome to the students and staff. Please enjoy the new space. I truly hope it serves you well for years to come.”
The first floor of the Student Center is home to a common area titled the Commons, which some students may find reminiscent of the late Hayden Lounge. Next door to the Commons is the Intercultural Space, which was announced in September. Down the hall is the Game Room, which features a pool table and a pantry.
Nasir Montalvo, Chair of the SGA Diversity & Inclusion Committee, when asked about the new Student Center and its Intercultural Space, said, “[t]he Diversity & Inclusion Committee pursued an initiative for an Intercultural Center. The Space is not wholly representative of the goals we had hoped for (a prayer space, an expansion of Diversity Education, and attached, related offices for example), but we are glad that Stevens is making a step towards equity initiatives. We encourage all identity-based student organizations to make use of the space for programming that disseminates educational material and fosters ally-ship; and encourage any community member to stop by and learn about cultures and identities different from their own. Personally, only time will tell with this space. I hope that the Space remains inherently student-run. Neither myself or the Committee Advocates were chosen to serve on the planning committee, and we have not been given any directives on how we will be involved with the grand-opening of the space. We were, in fact, asked if we would like to be involved. Being that we were instrumental in bringing the Space to campus, I found that question silly. We hope to attend the opening and be involved in the Center’s success, but to what capacity we will be participating is still up in the air. Either way, we will continue our mission to build a stronger, inclusive Stevens, and continue to advocate for the various minority groups on campus.”
Many of the current occupants of the Student Center are currently scheduled to move into the University Towers upon completion. Until that happens, however, students will have plenty of time to make the Student Center a part of their campus life.
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