Whitman news since 1896

Whitman Wire

Vol. CLIV, Issue 6
Whitman news since 1896

Whitman Wire

Whitman news since 1896

Whitman Wire

The Glover Alston Center provides students a home away from home

Lian Caspi '13 lights the menorah on the third night of Chanukkah at Glover Alston Center. Photo Credit: Zach Rosenberg

“It’s like an oasis away from Whitman,” said sophomore Bao-Tram Do, Whitman’s Intercultural Center Intern.

The Glover Alston Center (GAC) opened at Whitman in January of this year, and has since changed how student clubs across campus meet and interact. Built with over half a dozen meeting rooms and intended as a designated spot for clubs at Whitman to meet, the GAC has transformed into a home away from home for students.

According to Ben Wu, the intercultural center program advisor, the idea of having a comfortable and safe place for clubs to meet was a major component behind the development of the building. Rather than having to meet in an academic building such as Olin or Maxey Halls, the GAC provides clubs with a more relaxing and comfortable meeting space.

“The idea was to have a safe, comfy place to meet and bond, and say things you wouldn’t want to say out in public,” he said. “It’s nice to have a set place and a set time that can be reserved in advanced so it’s a space that clubs can rely on.”

Before the opening of the GAC, the Whitman Christian Fellowship (WCF) used to meet at a fellow team leader’s house. However, with the growth of the club, the GAC has provided WCF with much needed space to discuss and learn. Leaders of the club meet at the GAC to organize elements of the club, and members often have dinners at the center. Senior Kelsie Butts, the Worship Team Leader of the WCF noted the comfortable environment the GAC provides.

“It’s such a safe space for people, especially in a spiritual faith-based organization, and the upstairs is especially comfortable for open discussion,” she said. “Most academic buildings have an academic environment that’s not conducive to good discussion.”

The GAC also contains a kitchen where students are welcome to cook and eat. For clubs, the kitchen provides the perfect place for members to converse and socialize over food. Do, who is also a member of the Black Student Union, observed the positive difference the kitchen at the GAC has had on the BSU.

“The kitchen makes it feel like a house and being there makes us feel like a family,” she said.

Couches and individual study rooms add to the GAC’s homelike environment, which encourages students to utilize the quiet and cozy atmosphere.

“There’s a place to eat, study and sleep, I could spend the entire day there,” Do said.

Although the GAC is sometimes used as a study alternative to the library, the building’s location,  at the far west end of campus, means some students are put off by the time to walk to the GAC to study.

“I’ve just never had a reason to walk over there,” said first-year Joel Senecal. “I’d rather walk over to the library to study.”

Jennifer Lopez, president of Club Latino, has also noticed that some members find it difficult to make the trek over to the GAC for weekly meetings and dinners.

“I think club participation has dwindled a bit, because distance-wise, when it’s cold people don’t want to walk all the way over,” she said.

Nonetheless, the GAC has provided the Whitman community with a place to relax and has encouraged student groups to open themselves in a more familiar comforting environment.

“The GAC is designed to be a homey place,” Wu said. “Unfortunately when you think of the school as an academic institution you get caught up in the hustle and bustle of everyday life, but with the GAC, you can think of it as home when you come in.”

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