This post was written by Hatchet reporter Kaya Yurieff
The Student Association Senate unanimously passed a bill Monday calling for University funds to redesign the Marvin Center fourth floor.
The SA and the Marvin Center Governing Board have strongly criticized the University’s decision not to relocate the fourth floor’s 57 student organization offices to the fifth floor, which will be massively redesigned this summer, and GW’s resistance in providing money or space for a student hub.
“We’re making sure this is a focus of the University because we have lost such an amount of space and how important this is for the future of the school,” Sen. Scott Backer, CCAS-U, said.
The non-binding resolution carries no weight administratively, but serves as a lobbying tool for student leaders. The bill does not include specifics about what type of renovations are needed to change the space, nor does it include how much the student leaders would like as allocations.
The University has no plans to renovate the fourth floor in the near future, and plans to move offices like Career Services and the Center for Student Engagement to the space previously occupied by the Hippodrome and Wow Wingery.
SA President John Richardson who has brought up the issue with top administrators and the Board of Trustees said he hopes the University will funnel the savings from the fifth floor project – including moving departments off leased space such as the International Services Office – to the fourth floor.
“Money needs to be reinvested towards students. We want it to be directed toward student space,” Richardson said. He hopes to see more collaborative group space on the fourth floor.
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