Student Center needs renovation
The university offers no good place to meet people

Where do TCU students go to meet people, make friends and just hang out? If you’re thinking the Student Center, think again.

These days the Student Center has become more of a building where organizations have meetings and forums than a gathering place for students. The lounge is almost always occupied by tables or stages that may invite students to stop and stare but hardly evoke a participatory feeling, especially if talking politics or salsa dancing isn’t your cup of tea.

A “student center” should be a place where all students can go and feel welcome. It should invite people to come and stay awhile, not just pass through on the way to their dorm or car. Students don’t even stay to eat, not that The Main is big enough to accommodate the traffic.

Incoming students that aren’t automatically inclined to pay for their friends have to find other ways to meet people. And let’s face it — social activities on campus are about as popular as sobriety. Student involvement is hard enough when there is no common ground that brings people together.

Granted, the Recreation Center has a rather nice area solely for lounging. With pool and ping-pong tables and a big screen TV, it’s the perfect place for students to gather ... if anyone knew it was there or wanted to hang out in the Rec’s basement.

Alumni constantly reminisce about the old Student Center where they used to play bridge. There have also been rumors of a bowling alley and coffee bar. These are the types of things that belong in a Student Center, things that unite people.

The point isn’t that we need to renovate the Student Center to make more room for offices and cubicles. We need to renovate the purpose of the Student Center altogether.