Student clubs enjoy new offices, but miss privacy

By Doug Ancey

One of the recent additions to Santa Clara's campus, the Paul Locatelli Student Center, is located on the eastern edge of campus next to the Stanton artificial field. The Locatelli Center has been built on the land formally occupied by Kerr Alumni Park. While a large part of the student population (particularly the freshmen class) was able to have a brief introduction with the new building during the University's Club Fair earlier this quarter, a few student organizations have taken up a more permanent residence in the new space.

Santa Clara Community Action Program (SCCAP), the Activities Planning Board (APB), and Associated Student Government (ASG) have all been moved from their previous offices in lower Benson Center to the new Locatelli Center. However, complaints have been circulating about the new Center's location and set up, as the former separated offices of Benson Center have been replaced with a more open space, divided only by cubical-style partitions, which separate each club's meeting space.

All of the office space is located on the second level of the building.

"Moving here has certainly presented us with some unique challenges," says Mark Vetto, Associate Director of SCCAP, "especially in making our area a safe space for students, which was much easier to do with the four solid walls and locking door we had in Benson. However, we think that this is a great opportunity for us to think outside the box about our presence on campus and attracting students down here while still advertising in Benson. All in all, I think we've done a good job of making a home here."

Leslie Henry, the Associate Director of APB, sees the challenges of the move in terms of using the space that the Locatelli Center offers for on-campus events.

"The bottom floor of the Center is an open forum," explains Leslie, "so we have a large space to hold events like dances and smaller concerts. However, they don't sell food here, which is often a huge draw for students, and we're not at the center of campus. We still advertise in Benson, so I don't think our presence on campus has been diminished, but it's instead a matter of accessibility for students." According to Leslie, the first real tests of the new space are the first few events put on by APB, such as the Breakfast Club DJ night, which took place on Saturday October 2, and APB's Oktoberfest on Wednesday, October 6. ASG has also moved to Locatelli from Benson, but seems to be experiencing a little less trouble than some of the other organizations.

"It's been less challenging for us," says Briana Britton, ASG's Vice President of Organizational Development, "We don't have freshmen in the organization yet, so most kids don't really have trouble getting to meetings. We were tucked away in Benson one before. People would walk right by our office without even knowing it."

"Now we have a whole building to do events," explains Sophomore Senate Chair Robert Leupp. "The quality of the Center is really incredible, I don't think we'll have that much trouble enticing kids [to come] down here. I think there is great potential for events like Senior Nights to be very successful here. If you look off of the back balcony you can see that there is a huge amount of lawn space available. I think that could be used for events as well."

While there is a large amount of floor and lawn space provided by the Locatelli Center, its location on campus seems to be the major factor in deterring students from using it.

The Benson Center is still capable of holding events like music performances and speakers in the Bronco.

Combined with the availability of food and drink, along with its central location on campus, bordered by the library and Swig, Santa Clara's largest residential building, still make Benson the focal point for student life on campus.

While initial reactions about the Locatelli Center have been mixed, it will be the events planned for the Center this year that will test its usefulness, as well as the effectiveness of the location.

Many people are skeptical, but as the year goes on it should become clearer as to what role the Locatelli Center will have in student life on campus.

Contact Doug Ancey at dancey@scu.edu or (408) 554-4849.