Gross says he understands that the location of Hilles might prevent it from being a magnet for student life.

“It has the space for that. It’s a matter of whether people want to go there,” he says.

According to the philosophy of architectural experts who specialize in building student centers, there are at least three requirements for a great student center: location, location, location.

“One core philosophy is that the student union should be centrally located—it should be the crossroads of campus, the hearthstone,” says Paul Knell, a senior principal at WTW Architects, a firm that has planned or designed over 50 student centers in the past 15 years.

Knell says that a peripheral campus location might pose a problem for a student center because it is not frequented by as many students.

“If Harvard Square is a popular place to hang out, and a lot of students live around there, that might be a good location,” Knell says.

Hefty prices and a lack of appropriate space make it unlikely that the College will build a student center in the Square.

But many students say that despite their desire for a true student union, its placement in the Quad would mean few students would use it.

“I don’t think it’s a good location. It takes a while to get out there,” says Erica A. Scott ’06, who lives in Quincy House but says she has worked in the Quad. “I don’t think people would necessarily go out there for a student center.”

Gross says that when he talks to Chopra about campus centers, the council president always suggests other more centrally-located buildings.

And Chopra says he does not think that any amount of renovations to Hilles could lure many students to the Quad.

“This idea of ‘if you build it, they will come’ is flawed logic,” Chopra says, pointing out that a minority of undergraduates—around 1,100 out of 6,400—live in the Quad.

Harvard: Hit or Miss

The change in the College administration is largely responsible for the new tentative initiative to build a student center. Lewis, who was bumped from his post as dean of the College last year, staunchly opposed creating such a building.

Lewis long argued that the Houses should act as the centers of student life and that a student center outside the Houses would be detrimental to residential life.