Limited space stifles student organizations, activities
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following article is the first part of a three-day series that will detail the many problems USC faces with its current student union. Today’s story focuses on the space constraints in the Russell House and how they affect student organizations and the student body as a whole. Tomorrow’s story will look at the deterioration of the building since its construction 57 years ago and its many deferred maintenance needs. The final installment will be a look into the administration’s plans to remedy these issues.
Student organizations and university officials are attempting to budget their events into the Russell House’s 218,000 square feet as USC’s population continues to outgrow the 57-year-old building.
USC-Columbia’s Master Plan calls for an additional 80,000 square feet of student union space, according to Vice President of Facilities Tom Quasney, which the Russell House currently does not provide.
Today student organizations are lining up for their shot at a reservation in the university union’s limited space. Event and meeting reservations for the Fall 2012 semester will be distributed via a series of four lottery sessions. Each session yields the possibility of one small and one large event slot per organization.
Last spring, the Russell House granted requests for 17 ballroom events, 15 theater events and 20 weekly meeting slots to different student organizations that requested space for Fall 2011. These bookings are given out after priority university events, such as orientation and Homecoming festivities, and pre-submitted Carolina Productions events.
Russell House director Kim McMahon said that the lottery system has managed to grant at least one reservation to each student organization that has requested space. Forty-two organizations participated in the lottery, but with over 300 student organizations on campus, McMahon knows that many groups don’t stand a chance.
“We’re already not meeting needs ... but meeting needs and making it work are two separate things,” McMahon said. “That’s the point of the lottery system. We’re trying to help students understand that because of limited space they have to plan well in advance.”
However, few student organizations actually plan all their events a full semester ahead, meaning they are left with the option of submitting last-minute online requests for leftover slots or finding other spaces in academic departments.
This presents a challenge to organizations such as the Association of African-American Students (AAAS), which this year grew to an unprecedented 120 official members. The group had trouble retaining members before finally landing its weekly slot in the theater, according to AAAS president and third-year psychology student Anthony Gomez.
“My freshman year we had to move meetings from the Russell House to the B.A. to Gambrell,” Gomez said. “We lost members because people didn’t know where to go. At least with the lottery we got a regular spot.”
In order to keep their prime spot, organizations such as AAAS have had to renegotiate the size, dates and lengths of their events.
“We try to cover controversial topics in our meetings, but it’s sometimes difficult to make sure that fits our allotted time span,” Gomez said. “We definitely worry about compromising, but we’re so used to meeting in the Russell House theater, and we don’t want to have to make people move to another location.”
The ballroom and the theater are the only rooms in the student union large enough for groups over 100, like AAAS, with capacities of 650 and 300, respectively.
Carolina Productions President Kallie Linsberg says a newer, larger space would allow for more campus events.
“We’ve had to turn people away because events are too big for the ballroom but too small to move into the Koger Center,” Linsberg said. “It’s too bad, because everyone’s fees are going to the show, but not everyone who wants to come can get in. There really does need to be a bigger, in-between space.”
Despite only having two large event areas, the Russell House remains the central hub of student activity. McMahon estimates that the building receives between 6,000 and 8,000 visitors every day and is the most highly trafficked building on campus — though by no means the largest or most up-to-date. The Russell House hasn’t seen any size additions since 1976, according to Quasney. Since then, concessions to maximize space have included adding office spaces, rearranging seating and turning empty spaces into student lounges. However, these attempts have not addressed some of the other crowding issues, especially mealtime traffic jams.
“A busy Russell House is a successful one, yet if you come by here during certain hours it’s just packed,” McMahon said. “Around 9:30 (a.m.) the line at Einstein’s is at least 20 people deep. There’s definitely a need to expand food service areas.”
McMahon said the ideal solution would be to eventually build a new student union. While the university is currently drafting plans for a self-assessment for need and feasibility for a new building, such a plan could take nearly a decade and anywhere from $4 million to $100 million. In the meantime, McMahon is more than willing to hear what changes students want for the Russell House.
“Complaints help us understand what we need to fix so we can figure out what we can start to make happen,” McMahon said.