Artwork by
Dennis Murphy

For the students, by the students

SAS raising awareness for new student center
By Shawn Davis, Corner Post staff

Students walking through Brady Commons and the University Bookstore this week might have noticed something peculiar. All the bookstore employees and many students were wearing shirts promoting a vote to expand Brady Commons. Student Auxiliary Services has been working to get the word to students that Brady needs a change, and students tend to agree.

“I think it’s crowded, and we need more seating,” said sophomore Phil Brown. “It looks like it is straight from the 70s.”

Actually, the bulk of Brady was built in 1963 with various additions in later years. What the designers didn’t take into account was that the additions used to house different campus organizations took room away from the students.

“When Brady was built in 1963, it was made for an enrollment of 15,000 students,” said SAS Public Relations Manager Michelle Froese. “With all the new additions, such as the center for student involvement, a lot of the student’s space was taken away.”

SAS has been meeting with different student organizations since 1999 to find out what students would like in an expanded Brady Commons.

“There needs to be more places to eat, and a more study friendly environment,” said junior Lee Funke. “We also need more of a lounge area.”

Those are just a few of the problems SAS has been trying to address. A random sample survey was sent to various MU students in an effort to find what the overall student body wants.

“Overall, students want more study, lounge, hang-out areas, they even asked for an outdoor seating area,” Froese said. “Students also expressed interest in an area for student initiated clubs to meet.”

Space isn’t the only thing that has students and SAS concerned. Many people feel the overall look of Brady Commons is just dull and boring.

“It generally looks pretty crappy,” Brown said. “We need good, natural lighting, no more Florissant lighting, and we need better looking tables and chairs.”

To try and improve the bland look of Brady Commons, SAS has been working with architects to help design a better looking, more exciting and innovative student center.

“We’ve been doing some work to show how Brady can expand, and all the potential expansion has,” said architect Malcolm Holzman. “We want to show students the new design ideas, and make sure that it is what they want.”

The current rough design for the new student center would expand Brady to the southeast, covering up the south part of the visitor’s parking lot. The expansion would stop right at the corner of Hitt Street and Rollins Street.

“Student’s primary concern is losing that parking, but it’s only 40 spots,” Froese said. “Plus, next year Rollins is going to be a pedestrian campus only road, which should eliminate competition for those spots.”

With positive student feedback, SAS has had a referendum approved by MSA/GPC for students to vote on. The referendum states that if students want a new student center, they will have a $35 increase on their student activity fund, made effective in 2008.

“The project would cost close to $50 million,” Froese said. “The university is able to cover about 48 percent of that, which is why we need the referendum to pass, and why we have been in Brady urging people to vote.”

SAS has been in Brady Common all week handing out T-shirts and letting students see the new ideas for Brady Commons.

“It is a critical project,” Froese said. “If it is completed we want students to walk in and not even recognize it as the same old Brady.”

The referendum will be e-mailed to all students early in April to be voted on. If it is passed, construction will start in 2006.

Back to archive