Memorial Center’s Nell Eckley Lounge just got a facelift. On Sunday, Feb. 1, Student Senate held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new furniture renovation that was recently funded by Student Senate.
There were around 30 students and faculty members in attendance at the ceremony, including Dean Karla Carney-Hall, and many Student Senators and commissioners.
Current Student Senate President Brady Poisal prefaced the ribbon cutting with a message about the Student Senate’s intentions for the newly renovated space.
“This space represents more than just a physical renovation,” Poisal said. “It’s a commitment to students having a place to gather, collaborate and build community on campus,” he said.
Poisal took a moment to thank campus partners who made the renovation possible.
“This product truly reflects what happens when students and campus leaders come together,” he said.
Former Student Senate Vice President Mannat Kandal gave a look into how the idea for the renovation came about during her term last calendar year.
“When conversations about generating this space began with Kristin, our former Student Senate President, and me, we wanted this to be a space where students would come together, study, decompress, hang out with each other and just form a community,” Kandal said,
“We saw the potential for this to be a space for creating collaboration and student programming. We knew we had to take a chance on that,” she said.
Kandal also expressed how she hopes the space will be useful for many students in years to come and highlighted the importance of student voices in campus decisions.
“This project took a lot of collaboration and conversations between Student Senate and our campus partners, and it’s really meaningful for us to see that the work that we’ve done will serve students for a long time to come,” Kandal said.
“Spaces like this remind us that student advocacy matters, and when students are given a voice at the table, real change can come through,” she said.
