When I arrived here as a transfer student this year, I hardly noticed that there wasn't a central gathering place such as a campus center at WPI, mostly because I was yet to become involved in all my activities. And then I began to think to myself how odd it was that the Newspeak office was in Riley, the SGA office was in the Wedge, and most other student organizations had no real designated space of their own.
Although the Mount Holyoke campus center was not the most happening place to be on an everyday basis, it served as the meeting ground for almost every student organized office and all of the major social events. It was a conglomerate of everything from the Asian Students Association to the WMHC radio station to the Student Activities office, to the Mount Holyoke News. There was an inexpensive cafe, and there were concerts, comedians, dances, and speakers there on a regular basis. There were places to study, rooms for day students, and a game room.
All of this was in one place. One place to meet, one place for events, one place to be social and do our 'student thing'. This is why the campus center at WPI is so essential. We need one place to call ours, not ten places that are ours for an hour or two for a meeting, or the place to go for an event on a particular night.
WPI has a student body that is diverse and well-rounded for the most part, and people want to make their college lives better through activities. We want to show that we care about how the school runs and what we get out of it, but we need more than the Wedge to accomplish our extracurricular goals. Speaking from experience, a campus center can only enhance school enthusiasm and help us help ourselves.