Student Center upgrades: New kitchen, lounge planned

To increase the utility of the LaVerne Murphy Student Center space, ASUCC is working with Director of Facilities Jess Miller to suggest repurposing the UCC kitchen and cafeteria into an expanded lounge for students.

The newly expanded student lounge could boast a larger space for student government, a student kitchen, a pool table, larger couches and games such as ping pong or pinball.

The kitchen currently is just a microwave and a few condiments. The renovated student kitchen would allow more accessibility for students as well as more amenities. ASUCC is hoping to get a working sink, a refrigerator, utensils and dishes for student use and an expansion of the free grab-and-go food items to include perishable items like yogurt, string cheese and fruit, Amanda Cerda, ASUCC president said.

Included in these proposed upgrades is also an expansion of the Hawk clothing closet, previously established by ASUCC student government. 

The current clothing closet is located between the current student lounge and the cafeteria area. The closet has been a special project for student ambassador Sarah Goodwin. 

Goodwin and Director of Student Engagement and Dean of Students Marjan Coester have been working to expand on the closet. Currently, the closet is also occupied by the microwave and vending machines available for student use.

“The current closet space is just awkward. We have been talking to Jess Miller about putting glass doors on the closet entry to increase privacy for those browsing in the Hawk closet,” said Cerda.

Many students seem apprehensive to utilize the service although the closet offers a wide variety of clothing items from t-shirts to sleep wear to business attire and even shoes. Amanda thinks that the thrift store culture is mainstream but has been slower to catch on in our area. She thinks some students might be insecure about being seen in donated clothes even though this doesn’t bother donors, according to Cerda.

Donations for the clothing closet typically come from staff and students but Cerda explains that in the future ASUCC hopes to reach out to local retailers for donations of new clothing items. 

Leftover clothes from the Hawk closet are rotated out and donated to the local Dream center or Senior Center.

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