Why are student unions so important to campus life?
Quite often a student union serves as the hub of campus activity. I would go as far as to argue that a student union is the community center of campus, serving students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members. Our union provides a venue for campus programming, activities, services and facilities that, when taken together, represent a well-considered plan for the community life of the college. In the early ’80s, administrators on campus realized the importance a student center and how it could enhance student life on campus. In 1983, the Student Activities Center (SAC) was built the to address these campus needs. The SAC was designed to serve as a unifying force that could foster a sense of community that would cultivate enduring loyalty to the university. The building did just that for several years. However, in the early ’90s, the campus came to realize that the SAC was not a sufficient size to realize the needs of our growing campus. In 1992, the SAC was expanded by more than 1
