On Sunday Jan. 14 the Student Union finally opened its doors to the public after six years of development and celebrated its grand opening.
Chancellor Koch, Vice Chancellor Clarice Ford, Springfield Mayor Jim Langfelder, and SGA President Garret Nimmo spoke in the brand-new ballroom to commemorate the grand opening. Ford hopes that the new union building will be the “living room” of the campus. Each speaker was excited to finally provide UIS with the new building that has been planned for years.
After all the speakers presented, students, faculty, and community members socialized and utilized the building by grabbing food samples, using the Starbucks, and looking around at the new facilities the Student Union had to offer.
Many facilities have now moved to the Student Union including the Student Leadership Center and the Volunteer and Civic Engagement Center. The food emporium, which was formally open in PAC, has also moved to the Student Union. It sports a brand-new kitchen, menu, and dining area. Also included is more office and lounge space for students to meet with their peers to study or to have fun. In turn Stars Lounge has closed, and the gaming equipment has been moved to small gaming room on the first floor. In addition, a new sports grill has opened. It functions similar to the grill in Founders.
The Student Union has a long history, dating back to 2012. Plans began to surface to make the building on Feb. 15, 2012 through a Facebook page that was launched. From there it went through several processes and approvals before the building could start to be built on May 4, 2016 at UIS. Students can find a timeline and building process of the Student Union on the Student Union webpage on the UIS website.
Many events have been scheduled in the Student Union already, thanks to its grand ballroom on the second floor. It allows a much larger space for event coordinators to utilize. Many students have already found themselves staying all day at the Student Union because everything is readily available to them. It’s already serving its purpose as being the living room to the campus.