According to Inman, women's organizations at Brown are housed in the Sarah Doyle Women's Center, while most minority student groups are supported by the Third World Center, which plays host to multi-cultural events and programs.

The Naysayers

College administrators say they are fully aware of the lack of student space. But they also say that don't see a student center like Faunce House as a practical solution.

"We have never felt that a central student center, such as those that exist at universities that have massive blocks of dormitories with few common spaces, would be appropriate here," Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles wrote in an e-mail message.

"Everybody has an office and every-body can rent Memorial Hall," Knowles added in an interview with The Crimson yesterday. "That's how the College runs."

Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 also expressed an aversion to the council's vision of a large center with room for student groups and student socializing.

"I think we need more space for student offices, publications, rehearsal space...and a number of other things that support educationally valuable extracurricular activities," he wrote in an e-mail message. "But when I hear `student center,' I think of video games and pizza, which I don't think we need."

Lewis also said he wasn't optimistic about the potential effect of the council's $25,000 pledge.

"I don't think that's a wise use of the money that Harvard had collected on the UC'sbehalf for distribution to student activities andevents," Lewis said.

A Dream Come True

But the University of Pennsylvania (Penn)serves as a good example of what can happen whenstudents and the administration work together.

When constructing a new student center provedunfeasible, Penn opted for an $82.5 millionrenovation project of four buildings that willdouble the amount of space available for studentfunctions.

According to Thomas Hauber, director of thePerelman Quadrangle, student groups are beinghoused wherever space can be found while PerlmanQuad buildings--including Houston Hall, thenation's oldest student center-are graduallyreopened over the next year. When it reopens nextMay, Houston Hall will provide a myriad of studentservices, including a food court, a copy center, a2,700 square foot game room, a newsstand andmultiple meeting rooms.

According to Rick Gresh, a Penn graduate whoserved as the undergraduate representative to thePerelman Quadrangle Committee, the administrationactively sought student opinions on what servicesthe new center should provide.

"At first I was concerned about being the onlyundergrad on the committee, but...I was reallylistened to," Gresh says.

Houston will have permanent space for theStudent Activities office and student governinggroups, as well as 21 shared workspaces for moretransient groups.