Campus Center Special

Student involvement, input crucial to realization of Campus Center

Many alumni have been involved in helping get the Campus Center constructed here at WPI. Many were involved in the Campus and Recreation Center Committee, which helped formulate the plans that led to the construction. Here are comments from several alumni involved in the planning.

Bill Riccio '88: "My involvement reaches back to the mid 1980's when the Campus Center was but a thought in the minds of many, a dream soon to become reality. The efforts of many are the reason the structure rises from the ground today. As an incoming freshman in 1984, I quickly became involved with student government when I was elected to serve as class representative for the Class of 1988. I continued in this capacity until 1988 when I was elected President of Student Government. Through those four years, many issues were on the minds of students, one of which was the lack of a central facility for students.

"The administration worked with the students by allocating the basement of Riley Hall for student use. This area was provided for the use of student organizations including SocComm for an area for coffeehouse and the like. For the first time, the Student Government was provided office space in the basement of Riley Hall adjacent to Alden Hall. Student organizations had ever important meeting space to conduct their business. This important step is one of what I believe to be the building blocks or foundation for the soon to be realized Campus Center. From this point forward, as the student government torch was passed forward from Ellen Sloan (1989) to Mike Donahue (1990) to many others, more and more blocks were placed beneath the foundation to support the idea of the Campus Center.

"For all that has taken place over the years, we must remember that if it were not for a few key individuals who remain today as major parts of the WPI administration, this building might not be becoming reality today. As students come and go, people such as Janet Richardson and Bernie Brown, assisted in providing the mortar to keep the foundation's blocks together. In my opinion, their efforts should be applauded by former, present, and future students of the WPI community.

"As you enjoy this wonderful addition to our campus, just remember how long and hard many have worked to provide for the future."

Michael Donahue '90: "I first got involved in the planning of the Campus Center in 1989 when I was the Student Body (now SGA) president. As Student Body president, I represented the students on the committee which created WPI's ten year plan (1990-2000). I do not recall the name of the sub-committee I was on but it focused on student life and I worked with Janet Richardson on this sub-committee. Janet and I both felt very strongly about the need for a true Campus Center for WPI so as part of the sub-committee work we looked at several campus centers at universities throughout New England. Additionally we had architecture plans drawn up for a Campus Center, which at the time looked at using Alden and a majority of Riley Hall. Based on this work I presented the case for a Campus Center to WPI's Board of Trustees and got their agreement that we needed a Campus Center.

"[I have a few] comments to help the current student body appreciate the Campus Center. First, there are a lot of alumni who came before me and a lot who came after me who played important though unseen roles in the eventual creation of the Campus Center. This occurs because it takes a long time for an Institute like WPI to develop the necessary funding and momentum for an undertaking like the Campus Center. Secondly, the faculty and administration were just as important to the success of the Campus Center as the students and alumni. The faculty and administration help provide the continuity from class to class necessary to achieve a project such as the Campus Center. Lastly, students should know their work on student issues is important and will eventually have an impact even if the impact doesn't occur during their academic careers."

Joe Klimek '94: "I was involved in the planning from the early requirements phase during 1992 and 1993 as a student, through the actual design phase and meetings with [the architects] Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson and Abbott. My involvement as a student was as an RA and the leader of several student groups (Bacchus, Residence Hall Council, Society of Manufacturing Engineers). In this role I was a participant in the open meetings with the campus body that generated support for the project. Later, student leaders were asked to be a part of over 40 different focus groups that identified the different factors that would make the center useful for their various groups. After graduation I became an alumni representative to the design committee. In that role I attended several meetings directly with the architects and provided feedback regarding the layout and adjacencies within the building.

"Students were very active in first getting the Campus Center raised to the top of the trustees priorities and then in defining the successful components of the center, including the location and types of rooms and services in the building. A series of open meetings were held during 1992 and 1993, meetings that set a new standard for student involvement at WPI. One of these meetings sticks out in my mind where Perrault Hall was the original location, but that quickly filled with students, staff, and faculty. IMC then had to broadcast the meeting to Newell and Kinnicut - over 1000 students participated in this meeting of the Blue Ribbon Committee. This meeting led to the creation of the Campus Center Commission.

"Students in general were concerned with the lack of community within the campus. Probably similar to today there was no central place where all student, staff, and faculty shared space. There was a lack of programming space, no place that was comfortable for 'hanging out' (and wasn't claimed by small groups of the campus), and it was difficult for student groups to meet. The plan clearly addresses all of these concerns.

"All students of the early 90's had a strong passion for this center. We all expressed deeply our desire to have this building created, even though we knew that we would not see the finished product during our undergraduate years. All of us were dedicated and we hope that the student body of today shares the same enthusiasm for this project. At the same time, students need to realize that the overall success of the building is their responsibility. Students need to embrace the building and respect the effort that it has taken to make this building a part of the WPI campus."

John Albert '97: "It was in B Term '95 that Janet Richardson sent me a letter asking me to get involved with the Campus Center Committee. Basically, the first few months were just brainstorming sessions between the Athletic Dept, Plant Services, Student Organizations, DAKA, etc. Most of the meetings talked about the location (a huge decision), student wants/needs, space allotments, design concepts, etc. We started getting into design concepts, etc. in late 96-early 97.

"Students filled out surveys as to what they'd like to see and assessed how much usage they would make out of different amenities planned in and around the center. There was more student input on this project than any other project I ever witnessed during my 4 years at WPI-They really focused on the students and what we wanted and deemed important to the "college atmosphere."

"Location was a big sticking point-where to put this building and how to make it blend in with buildings from the 1910's-today. Make it aesthetically appealing, blend it in with its surroundings, and yet put it in a location where it is easily accessible by students living on/off campus. You didn't want to have this large "white-elephant" structure on the outskirts of the Campus. It took a while to figure out how to do this and at the same time keep everybody smiling.

"This wasn't something that the Trustees of the Institute decided to build on a whim. Way before my time it was acknowledged that a Center was needed to unify the Campus-a central location for us to meet/eat/hang out or just take a break."