{{Short description|Building at a college or university for student activities}} {{Globalize |date=July 2012 |discuss=Talk:Student activity center#American examples}} [[Image:TTUstudentunion.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Student Activity Center on the campus of Texas Tech University]] A '''student center''' (or '''student centre''') is a type of building found on university and some high school campuses. In the United States, such a building may also be called a '''student union''', '''student commons''', or '''union'''.
The term "student union" refers most often in the United States to a building, while in other nations a "students' union" is the student government. Nevertheless, the Association of College Unions International (largely US-based) has several hundred campus organizational members in the US; these members typically operate the buildings, which are the most visible service provided by the organizations. This led to the '''student union buildings''' becoming known simply as "student unions" after the organizations which own them.
==History== [[File:Reportofsuperint1896penn 0515.jpg|thumb|right|Photograph of Houston Hall of University of Pennsylvania taken in 1896, the year the student center was opened.]] The first student union in America was Houston Hall, at the University of Pennsylvania, which opened January 2, 1896<ref>''Building America's First University: An Historical and Architectural Guide to the University of Pennsylvania'' George E. Thomas, David Bruce Brownlee, p3</ref> and remains in operation to this day. The first Ohio Union at Ohio State University was Enarson Hall.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ohiounion.osu.edu/about_the_union/history|title=The Ohio Union at Ohio State University|website=ohiounion.osu.edu|access-date=2015-10-08}}</ref> The building opened in 1911 and was the first student union to be built at a state university and the fourth of its kind in the United States.<ref name="What was the first student union">{{cite web |title=What was the first student union |url=http://library.osu.edu/find/collections/the-ohio-state-university-archives/buckeye-history/faqs/ |access-date=21 March 2012}}</ref> Oklahoma State University's student union opened in 1950. Subsequent additions, and renovations in 2010, have made the building one of the largest student activity centers in the world at {{convert|611000|sqft|m2|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://union.okstate.edu/renovation/BuildingHistory.htm |title=OSU Student Union Building History |publisher=Union.okstate.edu |date=September 9, 1950 |access-date=February 24, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720020635/http://union.okstate.edu/renovation/BuildingHistory.htm |archive-date=July 20, 2011 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.orgs.okstate.edu/ntso/ANTSHE%20Pages/antshe%20page.htm ANSTHE] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325014557/http://www.orgs.okstate.edu/ntso/ANTSHE%20Pages/antshe%20page.htm|date=2009-03-25}}, Oklahoma State University, retrieved April 23, 2006</ref>
Some student centers carry unique origins and historical significance with some on the National Register of Historic Places. The William Pitt Union was originally constructed in 1898 as a hotel and was converted into a student center in 1956.<ref name="williampittunion">{{Cite web|url=http://www.williampittunion.pitt.edu/index.html|title = Student Unions | Student Affairs}}</ref> Some student activity centers on the NRHP include O'Hara Student Center (University of Pittsburgh), McKenny Hall (Eastern Michigan University), and the Tivoli Student Union.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/cp/maps/historical/Oakland-Civic-Center-CHD.pdf| title=Oakland Civic Center City Designated Historic District| publisher=City of Pittsburgh Historic Review Commission| access-date=2009-07-10| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100108054002/http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/cp/maps/historical/Oakland-Civic-Center-CHD.pdf| archive-date=2010-01-08}}</ref><ref>{{citation |url=http://www.ypsilantihistoricalsociety.org/publications/spring2009.pdf |access-date=2011-02-12 |date=Spring 2009 |publisher=Ypsilanti Historical Society |pages=14–15 |title=Charles McKenny Union: An EMU Icon |last1=German |first1=Pamela |last2=Robinson |first2=Veronica |work=Ypsilanti Gleanings}}</ref> The Tivoli Student Union was originally home to the Trevoli Brewing Company but since has been converted to serve several institutions in Denver, Colorado.<ref>[http://www.dumondchemicals.com/html/tivoli_student_union.htm] $20 Million Makeover For Denver's Historic Tivoli's Student Union</ref>
In 2007, the University of Vermont's student center became the first LEED Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.<ref name="Vermont Student union opens">{{cite web|title=Vermont Student union opens|url=http://www.uvm.edu/~arch/?Page=projects/commons.html&SM=pastprojectsmenu.html|access-date=21 March 2012}}</ref>
Other examples of student centers include West Virginia University's Mountainlair, the J. Wayne Reitz Union at the University of Florida, the Bronco Student Center at Cal Poly Pomona, the McCormick Tribune Campus Center at the Illinois Institute of Technology, and Price Center at UC San Diego.
The first student center in the United Kingdom was at the University of Liverpool, built 1910–1913 for the Liverpool Guild of Students and listed on the National Heritage List for England from 1975.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England| num=1068368|desc=Students Union (old part only) |grade=II |accessdate=10 November 2021}}</ref> Another historically important student center is Newcastle University Students' Union Building, built in 1924 for what was then Armstrong College of Durham University and listed from 1987.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England| num=1355263|desc=Students' Union|grade=II |accessdate=10 November 2021}}</ref> Many student centers were built as part of the rapid expansion of higher education in the UK following World War II with architectural styles ranging from classical to modernist; the brutalist Dunelm House, built in 1966 for Durham Students' Union, is considered "the foremost students’ union building of the post-war era in England" and was listed in 2021.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England| num=1477064|desc=Dunelm House including landing stage, steps and attached walls |grade=II |accessdate=10 November 2021}}</ref> {{As of|2021}}, these are the only three student centers to have been listed in England. The conversion of former polytechnics to universities in 1992 sparked further construction of student centers at the new universities, examples including the students' union buildings of Sunderland University and the University of the West of Scotland, both built in 2004.<ref>{{cite report|url=https://cdn.rt.emap.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2017/11/04085628/Dunelm-House-Historic-England-advice-report.pdf|title=Case Name: Dunelm House, Durham|publisher=Historic England|date= 6 December 2016|accessdate=10 November 2021|page=10}}</ref>
<gallery widths="200" heights="200"> File:Houston Hall, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.jpg|The first student activity center in America was Houston Hall at the University of Pennsylvania File:Schenley Hotel.jpg|The William Pitt Union as the Schenley Hotel File:OSUStudentUnion2.jpg|Student Union at Oklahoma State University File:LGOS Front.jpg|Liverpool Guild of Students building at the University of Liverpool, the first student center in the UK File:Bâtiment Student Union Newcastle Tyne 5.jpg|Students' Union building at Newcastle University File:Dunelm House & Kingsgate Bridge.jpg|Dunelm House at Durham University, seen through Kingsgate Bridge </gallery>
==Purpose==
Broadly speaking, the facility is devoted to student recreation and socialization. A student center or student union is the community center of the college, serving students, faculty, staff, alumni, and guests. A student activity center might offer a variety of programs, activities, services, and facilities.<ref name="Association of College Unions International">{{cite news|title=Association of College Unions International defines union|url=http://www.acui.org/content.aspx?menu_id=30&id=296|access-date=21 March 2012}}</ref>
It may contain lounges, wellness centers, dining facilities or vendors, and entertainment venues. The student center is often the center of student affairs and activities and may house the offices of the student government or other student groups. It may also act as a small conference center, with its meeting rooms rented out to student groups and local organizations holding conferences or competitions. An example of this for instance is the Michigan Union, which hosts the University of Michigan Model United Nations conference.
Depending on the school and its location it might have unique amenities such as a bowling alley, cultural or prayer rooms and unique services. At Eastern Michigan University Student Center the building offers a kiva, a round, 360-degree room patterned after spaces used in Native American cultures.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.emich.edu/focus_emu/110706/nscopening.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100530131712/http://www.emich.edu/focus_emu/110706/nscopening.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2010-05-30 |work=Focus EMU Online |title=New EMU Student Center celebrates grand opening |publisher=Eastern Michigan University |date=2006-11-07 |access-date=2011-06-14 }}</ref> The Kiva Room at EMU is used as a meeting space, for collaboration, or for musical purposes.<ref name="EMU student Center kiva room">{{cite web|title=EMU student Center kiva room|url=http://www.emich.edu/focus_emu/110706/nscopening.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100530131712/http://www.emich.edu/focus_emu/110706/nscopening.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 May 2010|publisher=Emich.edu|access-date=23 June 2011}}</ref> In the Ohio State University-Ohio Union, the student union offers an interfaith prayer room which has feet washing area for Muslim students.<ref name="OSU Ohio Union interfaith prayer room">{{cite web|title=OSU Ohio Union interfaith prayer room |url=http://ohiounion.osu.edu/plan_an_event/view_event_spaces?room=27|access-date=21 March 2012}}</ref> The University of Central Florida has an eyewear and optometric consumer service location.<ref name="UCF College optics">{{cite web|title=UCF College optics|url=http://ucfsu.com/retail-stores/|access-date=21 March 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313203000/http://ucfsu.com/retail-stores/|archive-date=13 March 2012}}</ref> Likewise, a Canadian example would be at the University of Waterloo where the student life centre holds many different businesses and services such as a dentist office, a used book store, piano rooms and study rooms that can be reserved for use, and a multi-faith prayer room.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2012-06-04|title=Inside the Student Life Centre (SLC)|url=https://uwaterloo.ca/student-life-centre/inside-student-life-centre|access-date=2021-03-12|website=Student Life Centre|language=en}}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Education|Architecture}} * Association of College Unions International * Student union (disambiguation) * Student activities
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Student center}} Category:Student activity centers Category:Student culture Category:Student organizations Category:Students' unions