As the clock winds down, student groups in the EMU are packing boxes with documents, office supplies and computers ready to make the journey to a new location. Stacks of boxes surround rooms and groups of people spend hours looking over what will be taken.
Starting March 21, student groups currently located in the Erb Memorial Union will be moving to McArthur Court during construction on a new wing of the EMU. It’s a task that entails spending hours sorting through old archives, campaign posters, yellowed ASUO budget files and various documents that date back to the early ’80s.
About 18 different student groups will be relocated to Mac Court. Once a basketball arena, McArthur Court will now also be a student center, providing a temporary home to students groups for about two years.
Some key goals that were considered by the renovation team when finding a new location for student groups were keeping groups close to the EMU, moving groups only once if possible, prioritizing student group needs and providing many options.
“When we started looking for different locations for student groups we wanted to keep them as close as possible to the heart of campus and we looked at different places,” EMU Renovation coordinator Dan Geiger said. “Then we saw Mac Court and asked ourselves: ‘is this even possible?’ When we saw it we thought it was a place that would keep student groups close and not scattered. We wanted to maintain that sense of community and we believe Mac Court can provide that.”
With hours dedicated to preparing for the move, many student groups have found the moving process both stressful and nostalgic. For many groups it has been a process of recycling old documents and deciding what to take to Mac Court, while for others it has been a smooth process.
“So far it has been a process of going through old documents from the ’80s and finding old posters, but we still have a lot of packing to do,” co-director for the Survival Center Jeremy Hedlund said. “Moving is a chance to start fresh again and the biggest hurdle for us has been going through everything and deciding whether to keep it or not. Were looking forward to being close to the other student groups.”
Though most of their time has been occupied by looking over old archives, many student groups look forward to interacting with other student groups and getting to know their new neighbors.
“The process has been great and were excited for our grand opening in Mac Court. We’re putting together some fun activities,” Club Sports Director Kristen Gleason said. “It’s been a lot of work, but it’s like moving into a new house and were looking forward to meeting our new neighbors and meeting new people. Were bringing most of our stuff and making some modifications as well.”