For the first time in 75 years, the center of alumni and student life at EMU will no longer be McKenny Union. Taking its place as the University's new epicenter of cultural and social activities will be the Eastern Michigan University Student Center, a new facility that is expected to reinvent what it means to be a student at EMU.

The center's opening gives McKenny Union, an icon to generations of alumni, a much needed rest – time that will be spent on an infrastructure makeover. (See related story) When it reopens, the building will continue to host meetings and events (including in the historic ballroom), but gone will be the bookstore, food court and Campus Life and student activity operations. In their place will be other University operations and offices, including the human resources department and an expanded Career Services Center.
Glenna Frank Miller, executive director of the EMU Student Center, said the new building will be among the most comprehensive of its kind nationally when it opens Monday, Nov. 6. "The center is a symbol of EMU's future," she said. "It will give our students a greater sense of pride."
Alumni can get a sneak preview at noon Saturday, Oct. 21, Homecoming Day. A weeklong series of public grand-opening events is planned starting Nov. 6, including the ribbon-cutting and installation of a time capsule. A dedication is planned Friday, Nov. 17.
Since 1999, EMU's student leaders have designated a renovated McKenny Union or a new student center as one of their top priorities in budget and planning recommendations to EMU's administration.
One of those leaders was Alena Frey (B.S. '04), who served on the committee that selected the center's architect. "The new building brings needed services closer to the residence halls where thousands of students live as well as commuter parking," she said. The center will raise the visibility of student programming by bringing it under one roof and make those services more accessible, she added
"I constantly had students ask me, 'What is Campus Life? What does it do?'" said Frey, recalling her years as a leader running various Campus Life programs. "Students then were missing out on opportunities because they didn't know our programs existed. Now, all student organizations and services will be out in the open, and they will be hard to miss!"
The issue of whether to renovate or build new was researched through years of planning, studies and focus groups. In the end, the cost to renovate, expand and repurpose McKenny exceeded the cost to build a new facility at a different location. More important than construction costs were the synergies everyone sought and which McKenny wasn't equipped to address: namely, the ability for students to work more closely together, for like services to be linked physically, and for the full spectrum of student-focused programs to be more visible – all closer to commuter parking, residence halls and the academic core of the campus, including the Bruce T. Halle Library.
That planning culminated in January 2003, when the EMU Board of Regents authorized the $45 million project, which allowed architects to be hired. The cost covers new construction, renovations to McKenny and razing of Pine Grove Apartments. A fee is being assessed per credit hour to repay the debt on the construction bonds. The center will open nearly two years after its September 2004 groundbreaking.
"Students will have a place they can call home, which they really haven't had before," said Jim Vick (M.S. '75), vice president of student affairs. "McKenny opened as an alumni-focused building and mainly provided ornate meeting rooms. We've never had a true student center on campus."
Current student leaders feel the right decision was made.
"I think the interest in student programming activity will see a significant spike," said Dan Cicchini, EMU's Student Government president and a senior from Berkley, Mich. "There will be a radical change in the perception of what is 'campus life.' [The center] will open a lot of opportunities for student involvement, and that involvement really influences students' perception of their time spent at Eastern."
The new name for the concentration of Campus Life services is the Center for Student Involvement, or "CSI-Ypsilanti" as some students call it. The CSI contains meeting rooms and offices for Student Government, Diversity Programs, Campus Life and VISION, and is adjacent to event planning and the center's administration offices.
"The new location will foster a more collaborative atmosphere among students and staff. There also aren't the physical barriers that you find in McKenny," said Emily Vincent, Student Government vice president and a senior from Oregon, Ohio.
The student center is roughly double the size of McKenny. At 181,000 square feet, it is slightly smaller than the Convocation Center. But once inside, the center's open floor plans and floor-to-ceiling wall of glass make it seem more intimate and accessible.
"Our approach was very simple – create a 'main street' concept," said Anton H. Germishuizen, a principal at Burt Hill, the building's architects. (Turner Construction Co. is the builder.) "We wanted to define a formal gathering space on campus."
That philosophy went into the concept behind the building's most notable characteristic: a wall of green-tinted glass.
"A student center should be a building that's very transparent so you can see the activities, so the students are showcased," Germishuizen added. "In this building, that idea comes to life through its high internal spaces as well as the transparency between floors. Students want to see other students and be seen. It's almost like being in a theater."
"That atmosphere is definitely what current and future students are looking for," Frey said.
"Before starting college, you have this picture in your mind of people studying out in the open, and that you are going to meet all these new and interesting people. That's something students expect when they go to college," Frey said. "The old union didn't have that environment. By contrast, the new student center has a lot of those opportunities built in, just simply by having little alcoves built by the fireplaces."
The center's attributes are many, and include: a 24-hour computer lab with 44 workstations; the EMU Admissions Office's Welcome Center; an expanded food court, including the first-ever campus Subway store; an expanded bookstore featuring more non-academic titles and magazines, run by Follett, the largest academic bookstore operator in America; the new University Gallery and the Student Center Gallery, replacing those inside McKenny; a 250-seat auditorium, which will host weekly Friday night movies; a 650-seat ballroom and many new meeting rooms, several with stunning views of the park; and a Kiva Room, a meeting room in the round.
Access is available from Oakwood Boulevard, which provides entry to the west entrance, as well as walkways near the residence halls, Rec/IM, the LakeHouse and Bowen Field House. A new pedestrian bridge near the EMU Parking Structure was added to make access easier from the library and Mark Jefferson Science Building.
(For more on the new student center, including live construction photos, visit www.emich.edu/mckenny/newbuilding.htm.)