Rising Expectations

A new student center, to occupy the west end of College Hall with a new entrance facing Robinson to the north, received a go-ahead in June, subject only to the Trustees' approval of a scale model at their November meeting.

The $1.3 million price tag - $600,000 for construction, including relocation costs; a like amount for endowment; and $100,000 for the first three years' program expense - will be a major item in the new capital campaign.

The concept of the center - would it be in a renovated Webster Hall or in College Hall? what facilities and services should be incorporated? - was the subject of considerable debate through most of the spring. Announcing the decision at a late June press conference, President Kemeny said that the students got all they asked for and more, with the exception of their request to have the mail boxes moved from the Hopkins Center.

The main area of the center will be located in the old Freshman Commons, including what is now the Francis Childs Room. Preliminary plans call for a multi- level floor with a stage, a large balcony, a "club area" serving beer and wine, a snack bar, several small meeting rooms and a large one, offices, an information center near the new entrance, and an improved games room in the basement. Still under consideration are a structural connection between College Hall and Robinson, where student organization offices are located, and a mall area with one-way traffic or none at all between College Hall and Thayer, where an already existing tunnel will probably be reopened.

The hope is that the student center will be in operation by the fall of next year.