There are plans in the works for the Bauman-Eberhardt Center. An under-utilized building on Saint Louis University’s campus, the goal is to turn the old West Pine Gym into a new Center for Global Citizenship.
“It’s pretty much vacant right now,” Student Government President, Courtney Anvender said. “The conversations that have been had between myself and student development have been looking at this blank space. Its not being used, but it’s a cool building in the heart of campus. So what can we do to kind of to give it some new life and make it part of the campus experience?”
Plans for the Center for Global Citizenship aim to create a central location on campus for students who might not otherwise meet to congregate. The plan is to create a common area to facilitate this interaction, a space Anvender compared to the atrium in the John Cook School of Business.
“It would be a good compliment to the Pius Library Renovation,” Anvender said. “It would be a multi-purpose space students can use— a place to bring students together in a kind of campus living room.”
Anvender stated that a “campus living room” would be an excellent way to put SGA’s new oath of inclusion into practice. She feels that if students have a central location to meet and study, there will be greater interaction among the diverse student groups around campus.
“What this would be would is a space that has an intention and a focus for a really inclusive atmosphere for all students,” Anvender said. “It will have some learning objectives that will be tied to what it takes to be a good global citizen. You have to have the academic side and the social side together and then have the space for these interactions to occur.”
Other plans for the space include a renovation of the space to create an auditorium with a theatre style setting for events that might attract a larger audience than other spaces around campus might hold and the possibility of adding a new café. There have also been talks about creating a central location in Bauman-Eberhardt for the cross-cultural groups and programs around campus.
“We’re looking at the possibility of developing some of the space in Bauman-Eberhardt as a compliment to what we have in Des Peres Hall now,” Kent Porterfield, Vice President of Student Development, said. “We’re thinking of things like expanding the Cross Cultural Center and cross-cultural studies and programs.”
While conversations between the Board of Trustees, the administration and SGA are in the works, the ideas for how to use the space are still in the preliminary stages. Porterfield said that those involved with the planning have started talking to architects and facilities people to figure out what undertaking a project like this might cost.
“We think it’s a concept that might appeal to donors and supporters of the University,” Porterfield said. “We’re still early on in our work determining the viability of the project, but that’s the kind of thing that we are thinking about.”
Students are already showing support for the project. The Bauman-Eberhardt project was listed as an important focus in all three of the platforms of the SGA presidential candidates running for the 2011-2012 academic year. Jimmy Meiners of Evolve, Tim Janczewski of Ignite, and Matt Ryan of Building Bridges all said that making Bauman-Eberhardt a central location for students could be beneficial for the SLU community. Porterfield said that the student support so far is very encouraging, as the Center for Global Citizenship will provide a valuable service to the University.
“There’s no question in my mind that SLU graduates are going to have to be global citizens in the world,” Porterfield said. “They’re going to have to understand what that means to be problem solvers and leaders within communities large and small, domestic and international.”
Though this information is not widely known among the student body, students agree that the space could be put to better use.
“I think it’s a good idea if it’s not being used for much,” sophomore Annemarie Batzel said. “It would help to have more space to study.”
Porterfield said that there is still a long way to go.
“Every step along the way is encouraging,” Porterfield said. “But it’s a journey, and we’re clearly not at the end of it.”
