For an organization like the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender
Campus Resource Center, one of the few offices operating in the
recently opened Student Activities Center, the building’s
construction is a blessing and a curse.
Despite the noise and the dust, Ronni Sanlo, director of the
LGBT center, said she is grateful to be in the new Student
Activities Center since the new suite is significantly larger than
their previous office in Kinsey Hall.
Before the construction, the Student Activities Center was known
as the Men’s Gym.
The Men’s Gym Project, which cost the university nearly
$38 million, is part of the campus seismic renovation/repair
program, which began following the 1994 Northridge earthquake.
The project started in December 2001 and was expected to be
finished by August 2003. The construction is currently in its final
stages, and the remaining offices are expected to move in by the
end of fall quarter.
The surviving facilities include a swimming pool that is now
open for swimming and diving events as well as recreational lap
swimming.
Upon completion of the project, there will also be a gymnasium,
locker rooms and showers available to students.
Though the majority of the construction is done, and there are
open offices ready to provide students with services, the
accessibility of the offices is poor, say staff members who work in
the facility.
Students and staff are currently using the west entrance of the
building, located across from the Arthur Ashe Student Health and
Wellness Center.
The main entrance to the building is located in Wilson Plaza,
but is not open yet.
To anyone unaware of the alternative entrance, the closed doors
can be misleading, since there are no signs redirecting the traffic
to the other side of the building.
“The problem is that students can’t find the office
that easily,” said Tina Oakland, director for The Center for
Women and Men, another one of the offices now located in the
Student Activities Center.
Both Oakland and Sanlo are concerned because their offices
provide help for students in need of counseling.
“Signs stating that the building is closed doesn’t
really help either,” said Sanlo.
Surafel Tesga, a second-year physiological science student, was
trying to find his way to the BruinCorps office on the ground level
of the building when a security guard stationed at the main
entrance told him that there was no one moved in yet, he said.
Once inside, it is still a challenge to find the open offices
among the numerous unmarked doors and “wet paint”
signs.
To inform students about its new location, The Center for Women
and Men has printed ads in the newspaper and is passing out flyers
on campus. In addition, the center sent e-mails to student groups
and faculty in order to get the word out.
The LGBT center is also trying to establish its new location by
hosting meetings that involve other campus groups.