VOLUME 11, NO. 1     MAY 1997

Campus Center Commitment

The status of the campus center, discussed frequently over the last few years, was the focus of attention in mid-February, when the Learning Environment and Campus Culture Subcommittee met before an overflow crowd of more than 400 students in Perreault Hall. This subcommittee of faculty, staff and students is one of 13 such groups charged by the Strategic Plan Steering Committee with addressing focus questions on WPI's future.

Student Government Association President Matthew Freimuth noted that a campus center has been a dream of students since the 1920s, with interest surging again in the 1960s. "To date, however, the efforts expended at these two periods have been unfruitful," he said. He presented a petition, signed by nearly 1,000 students, that called for the immediate construction of a campus center.

The next day, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Janet Begin Richardson brought the item before the WPI Board of Trustees. Freimuth, who also was present at that meeting, told the board that students make their home at WPI "and right now we live in a home without a living room."

The trustees took notice and approved the following resolution at their Feb. 21 meeting:

"Whereas the Board of Trustees wishes to express its appreciation to the students for their support and interest in a campus center,

Whereas the Board of Trustees has similar views and sees this as the centerpiece of the upcoming Capital Campaign,

Therefore be it resolved that the Board of Trustees will support this project through the selection of an architect and completion of design ready for bidding by the end of financial year 1998; and further recommends that the board establish a start date for the project at its October meeting."

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