Deep within the tunnels of Wayne State is a stirring. Ominously the administration is slowly but surely moving in, taking away student space one room at a time…

Being the president of the Wayne State College Student Senate I have access to “privileged” information, but something I value more than my authority is transparency.

The off-campus and on-campus bookstores merged this past year. Old news. The overpriced, outdated entity could be moving to the off-campus bookstore’s old location across from G’s Quick Stop. New news.

This move could be amazing and benefit student life as a whole or it could be detrimental to a space intended for students if the office that claimed “dibs” gets it’s way. I have worked in the Admissions Office for multiple years as a social media ambassador and a navigator, and I respect and value the work they do for our institution—we wouldn’t have students without them.

If there is one thing that I learned while serving two years as a Nebraska State College System student trustee, it is that *REVENUE BOND=STUDENT PAID FOR*. How does it make sense to give up prime real estate in a building funded by the students, for the students, for office space? Hahn is the administration building—SAB couldn’t be caught dead hosting a program in the hallways of Hahn—yet it is somehow perfectly acceptable to impede on student space.

The students of Wayne State need to take a stand and let the administration know that we are not going to just lay down and let the Admissions Office move into the Barbara and James Kanter Student Center atrium. The Admissions Office already has a welcome desk and a visitor’s room in the building. Meanwhile there are other offices, such as Student Activities, which has the sole purpose of engaging with students and bringing better programming to our campus, tucked away back down a corridor that students aren’t even sure they can enter.

By moving the Student Activities Office to a more noticeable location, events on campus could be better advertised and attended, students could easily see what’s going on around campus and in the community and it would keep the Student Center a place for students.

Not a place for offices.

Matt Mullins,

President of Wayne State College Student Senate 2016-2017
Nebraska State College System Board of Trustees 2014-2016