Comparison of Student Centers

I knew going back to school would be a huge adjustment. It had been 20 years since my last class and heading to my orientation inside the Student Center at the University of Kentucky was terrifying. I originally went to college at Western Kentucky University in the early 1990's and thought that the student center on campus there was large but, comparatively, the one at UK was enormous. The first time I walked toward the Student Center at the University of Kentucky, I knew over the last 20 years a lot had changed and I found myself looking back to the student center at WKU. I couldn’t help but compare the two.

Thankfully, there were lots of similarities to my previous experience. There is constant stream of students and faculty going in and out of the building through the multitude of entrances that surround the building. They share dining areas where students meet and grab a bite to eat. They even contain chain restaurants. There is a common area with pool tables and televisions so students can relax and hang out on campus. No student center would be complete without a busy bookstore full of not only text books but a plethora of school merchandise. Putting logos on anything that will stand still seems to be universal among schools. Student organizations meet and have social and fundraising activities and there are always students studying and hanging out in the common seating areas. The building also offers several opportunities for students who do work study to help pay for school.

Even in the similarities, there are differences. The area at WKU that had the pool tables was an open floor with the pool tables on one end, a bowling area on the other, and a giant television in the middle. I fondly remember the mix of voices, bowling balls hitting hard wood and pool balls banging against green felt.

It is the real differences that struck me so profoundly. Western’s student center was set up as a huge open area on each floor with rooms on either side except for the fourth floor. At UK, I walked into a maze. Halls shot off in every direction. You have to go through the dining area to get to certain meeting rooms and go down one set of stairs and up another to get to the room you are looking for. Thankfully there are maps on the walls every 30 feet.

At WKU, the common areas were always crowded. At times it seemed more like you were waiting in line at the hottest nightclub instead of waiting for a seat to watch the big screen television that was setup in the middle of the fourth floor. WKU offered physical education classes in billiard and bowling here. I haven’t seen any students at UK actually taking a class at the Student Center though they may be offered.

The whole building was loud with echoing noises, even at 9 am. During my previous experience, cell phones were not common and out iPods required a cassette or cd. Now everywhere I look, people have white cords hanging from their ears. Students walk in groups but are isolated, or maybe the more accurately insulated, from the world around them. The halls are quiet other than the shuffling of feet and the occasional hushed conversation. I didn't expect the Student Center to feel like a library.

There are a few other differences. While student organizations met at the student center at WKU, they didn’t have a huge area UK’s Center for Student Involvement has on the first floor of the Student Center. UK has its own credit union located on the second floor which makes life easier for students needing a checking or savings account or just needing to cash a check. WKU had an atm and that’s it. The University of Kentucky also has several auditoriums and theatres that host speakers, film nights, plays and probably more things that I just haven’t seen yet. The campus radio station is located on the first floor.

The Student Center at UK is a collection of spaces in one place. Spaces for eating, playing, studying, and working. Spaces inside and outside that are flexible to meet the needs of students and faculty.

I’m pretty sure that nostalgia has made me see the WKU student center through rose-colored glasses and I’m okay with that. I am looking forward to building new memories at the University of Kentucky; that is, if I can find my way around the building.