It is no great secret that something is greatly lacking at the University of Idaho.
Take a stroll across any modern university and one will inevitably find the student union building. In almost all cases, these buildings serve as the heart of the university. Student unions act as incredible centers of student life and epitomize the pride of any university. Even the name, student union, calls upon each of us to engage with something greater than ourselves, to look outward and explore the powerful feeling of belonging we all strive for.
The Association of College Unions International (ACUI) clearly state the role of the student union in 2020, “The college union advances a sense of community, unifying the institution by embracing the diversity of students, faculty, staff, alumni, and guests. We bolster the educational mission of the institution and the development of students as lifelong learners by delivering an array of cultural, educational, social, and recreational programs, services, and facilities.”
Take a stroll across the University of Idaho campus and one won’t find a building that quite embodies this vision. That is, not yet at least.
Let’s take a look at where we have been and where we are going for the future of student space at the University of Idaho.
Renamed the Bruce Pitman Center in 2014, the original Student Union Building (SUB) started as the Blue Bucket Inn and was officially named the SUB in 1937. It served as a significant center for campus activity for many years, housing restaurants and a bowling alley into the 1990s.
When the Idaho Commons opened in 2000, it served as something of a joint union, though the then-SUB started to slowly serve more as a functional office building and less a space for daily student life. Eating establishments disappeared, so did the bowling alley and eventually student life shifted closer to the center of campus.
It is uncommon to find those who remember the Pitman Center as the SUB, even though it had not been anything resembling a true student union for many, many years.
The Commons was designed as a central campus hub. Its original, and noble, intention was to be a place for all to gather and spend time during the day between classes and appointments. Yet in many ways, it has not been able to uphold that original intention. Something needed to change.
The renaming of the Commons to the Idaho Student Union Building (ISUB) is the most recent step in a long march to actualizing a true student union building here at the University of Idaho. This has been a multi-year effort to revitalize the heart of our campus and to put students at the center of that revitalization.
This is more than a renaming – a structural overhaul that now provides a governing board represented almost entirely by students. The ISUB Board will work to put student voices at the forefront of the decisions and happenings of the ISUB space. The opportunities this board offers are profound and flexible enough to meet the needs of students now and for years to come.
The ISUB is not the end of a long mission. In fact, it is merely the beginning. The ISUB is synonymous with the future of the University of Idaho.
In relation to the ACUI, the ISUB means a student-centered organization that engages in shared decision making, holistic development and advocating for inclusivity and equity by valuing all individuals. The ISUB also means educating students in leadership and social responsibility by offering firsthand experiences in global citizenship. Finally, the ISUB means providing gathering spaces to encourage formal and informal community interactions that build meaningful and long-lasting relationships.
The ISUB means a lot, but more than anything, the ISUB means the future of student space here at the University of Idaho and I invite you all to be part of that future.