Senior class gift to redesign main entrance to Student Union

Each year, students coming to the end of their four years at UConn work together to raise funds for a class gift that will mark their legacy. This year’s seniors are no different.

The class of 2008 is raising money to redesign the main entrance to the Student Union – the hub of student activity on campus since it opened in the 1950s – and create an inviting central gathering space that will benefit future students, faculty, staff, and visitors.

A plaque recognizing the donors will be placed on display in the new space, named Senior Square.

The Student Union was recently renovated and expanded. After four years and $80 million, the new “U” opened in August 2006.

More than 300 student clubs and activities are coordinated or operated from the building, including leadership programs and UConn’s six cultural centers.

“The physical benefit of our gift,” says Kyle Bellemare, CLAS ’08, chair of the senior class gift committee, “will be a beautiful entrance to a very central location on campus, the Student Union.

It will be like a finishing touch to the building that has undergone so many renovations during the past few years.”

To date, seniors have committed more than $40,500, surpassing the original goal of $30,000. The gift committee is asking each student to give $20.08 in commemoration of their graduation year.

Fundraising expectations are high, following successful campaigns in the past two years, when seniors raised $31,000 and $32,000, respectively.

“The senior class gift is an excellent way for seniors to give something back to the University that has provided us with so much over the past four years,” says Bellemare.

“We have all benefited from private gifts to the University in the past, whether it was for scholarships, building renovations, or technology advancements. This is a great opportunity for seniors to start giving back, ensuring future undergrads similar experiences.”

The Senior Square is being designed by juniors in the landscape architecture program as a class project.

The effort is led by Kristin Schwab and Mark Westa, both associate professors of landscape architecture in the plant science department in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

The current main entrance to the Student Union is neither functional nor attractive, and the sidewalks leading to it and plantings offer minimal visual interest, say Westa and Schwab. The new plaza will address these multifaceted problems.

“From a functional point of view, the entrance does not provide an exterior gathering or civic space that would be appropriate for a building that serves as the center for the UConn community,” says Westa.