As the school year begins, many students here at Millikin University may notice an area on campus that is surrounded by a gigantic fence. In this area, there are a few trailers, pipes, a crane, small piles of sand and dirt, and a building that is being taken apart. The building in question is the upcoming University Commons, formerly known as the Staley Library. According to the wall in upper RTUC, the new University Center will be used “[…] for performance learning to enhance creativity, leadership, and achievement”. The prospect of the center seems very benefiting for the school, but what is it really costing students at the moment?

The construction started roughly around January of this year, but some students say that they may have started working on it too early. Senior Miranda Colin said that at first, she was initially very excited about the plans for construction until months into the project. “From the outside, it looked like there was nothing going on for months,” Colin said. Since construction was not even allowed to start until classes had finished, the construction itself did not start until the summer.

As for the library itself, many music students as well as research students consider the current state of the library to be just as bad if not worse than the extended time that it now takes to get to classes on a daily basis. Before, the construction Millikin students had easy hassle-free access to the books they needed for class. Currently students, music students in particular, now have to buy books for their classes without even having a chance to read what’s inside them.

The construction of The University Commons will be completed in the fall of next year. In the meantime, students will have to move around the perimeter of the fence in order to get to their classes. The walk around said fence, roughly adds about five extra minutes to one’s commute to get to class, therefore this construction is a hindrance for students, especially for those first-year students. Freshmen Tara Nuccio states that, “I am fine with construction as long as it includes a walkway that would make walking to classes, go a little faster.”

Another problem that students face is the issue of  finding places to print important papers for classes. Other students, such as freshmen Kevin Escobar, states that whatever the University Commons has to offer would be fine as long as it included more printers because places such due to Scovil and the campus library getting quite packed at times.

The University Commons will include a  new Math Center and Writing Center therefore, it is more than likely that there will be more places to print important documents that everyone on campus will need. Besides, the annoyance of the extra time it takes to get to class and the limited places to print papers, the amount of study space has been so limited and mostly inadequate for everyone. The new University Commons will also include more areas for studying, eating, and collaborating.  

Yet, for all the problems that students face now, there are students who look to the construction as a positive and a sense of optimism, even the freshmen would say that it would all be worth it, when the construction is completed. Student Senate President McKenzie Sauer states that the renovation for the library has been long overdue. “As being a part of the student senate, I want what is best for the campus in the long run,” she states. “As much as I wish the construction happened in my time here [in Millikin], I do not, in any way, feel resentful.”