Repository: UIHistories Project: UI Foundation Series - Bulletin 3 (1936) [PAGE 2]

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What a Union Building Means at Our Sister State Universities

U N I O N B U I L D I N G , if it is performing its true function at old Siwash is the center of student life. At Wisconsin and at Michigan, four to five thousand students enter the Union every day. A report from Iowa State at Ames made in April 1935 indicated that 100,000 students passed into their Union Building during the month of January 1935, and they have probably less than 5,000 students. With the thought of giving a little clearer idea of the facilities provided in the buildings, the types of organization and the financial set-ups at these neighboring institutions, these facts are presented: T h e Indiana Union, for m e n a n d women, was built in 1932 at a cost of $650,000 but is not yet completed. T h e Union board consists of eighteen stu-

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dents, two faculty members and one local member of the Board of Trustees. T h e students are charged a compulsory fee of $6.00 a semester restricted to the retirement of capital indebtedness and $1.00 per year for upkeep. T h e Union has excellent dining service, a cafeteria seating 300 and also a short-order kitchen and men's grille. T h e building contains a very large and well-appointed book store. T h e main feature is a fine ballroom at which all University dances are held. T h e I o w a Union m o v e m e n t w a s started in 1919 but did not come to a head until about 1923 when a concerted drive produced about $1,000,000 in pledges. T h e present unit cost about $450,000, the principal feature of which is a very large and luxurious lounge for

men and women, 132 by 90 feet, with a variety of other activities grouped around it. Quarters for the faculty were • provided through its own contribution of $50,000, these facilities being entirely separate, the faculty being provided with pass keys. T h e University Women's Club also has quarters for which it pays rent. T h e building is owned by a separate corporation but when it is completely paid for it will revert to the University. Even during this period, it is University operated but the activities are managed by a student board. T h e Iowa State Union at A m e s for men and women will have cost when completed about one million dollars and is one of the most effective in this region. Italian Renaissance in style and built of Indiana limestone, it overlooks a small lake, which gives it a very advantageous setting. T o date over a million dollars have been pledged, practically all coming from life memberships at $100.00. T h e Class of 1935 alone contributed 250 of these', memberships. T h e building contains a great hall which can be used for convocations, banquets and dances. A stage is equipped with scenery comparable to our own Lincoln Hall. There are 46 rooms for regular patrons, transients and guests. Forty full-time and one hundred student employees are required to service the building. T h e student fee is $2.00 a quarter or $6.00 a year, and $1.00 each for summer sessions. T h e Michigan Union, for m e n only, was one of the earliest in the West. The building, a very beautiful home costing about $1,300,000, including furnishings and equipment was paid for pretty largely by contributions from alumni, a campaign being conducted in 1915. Most of the money came from life memberships sold at $50.00. T h e largest subscription was for $10,000. In 1919 a mortgage of $200,000 was negotiated which was completely paid off by 1931 out of income, particularly from one-half the student fee. It is operated

as a corporation separate from the University. A compulsory membership fee of $10.00 per year from every male student, in addition to the revenue from income-producing activities, gives the Union a sizable working income. T h e ballroom is very desirable for dances and will seat 600 to 750 for banquets. T h e dining room seats 160 and a tap room serves two thousand meals per day. They have 48 guest rooms with special quarters for visiting alumni. T h e Michigan State Union is for men and women and when completed will have cost $750,000. T o date $475,000 has been expended. It was started in 1923 and is managed by a separate corporation with a 99-year lease of the ground from the University. A $300,000 bond issue was bought by the State. T h e present compulsory fee is $3.60 per year. T h e Union is not quite self-supporting, being subsidized by the University in several ways. Some space in the building is reserved for the faculty. A ballroom for student dances is of good design but somewhat inadequate. T h e Minnesota Union, for m e n only, was started in 1913 with an old Chemistry building remodeled by the aid of a fund of $17,500 appropriated by the University. I n 1922 a three-story wing was added at a cost of $50,000 and in 1925 another three-story wing at a cost „of $52,000, these building expenses having been met out of accumulated revenue and from gifts by students. T h e governing board consists of two faculty members, one general alumni association member, one student from each college enrolling men and one additional member from each college enrolling more than one thousand men. T h e student compulsory fee is $1.25 per quarter from all male students. The Oklahoma Union, for m e n a n d women, was built in 1928. T h e drive for funds with which to erect the building was a combination drive by the trustees of the Stadium-Union Memorial Fund, the unpaid pledges being used as the basis for a bond issue of $400,000 on the two projects. T h e actual cost of the Union and equipment was $287,000, and the cost of the Stadium was

approximately the same. T h e Union has an effective ballroom for its weekly varsity dances, concerts and lectures. The University broadcasting" studio, also in the building, is used for putting student programs on the air. The T e x a s Union, for m e n a n d women, has a rather unusual set-up in that it consists of four separate units, the_ Union Building itself, H o g g Auditorium intended for lectures, small plays, etc., the Women's Gymnasium and the big Gregory Men's Gymnasium. While the two gymnasiums are obviously intended for the Physical Culture Department of the University, whatever control is exercised by the Texas Union is only for dances and other student functions, from which the Union receives the revenue. T h e Union manages all the dances and other activities on the campus. Naturally the most-used unit of this Union set-up is the Union Building itself, the first floor of which

was built by the University which houses all the eating facilities including a large cafeteria, and breakfast room with lunch counter and soda fountain. T h e Wisconsin Union, for m e n a n d women, was completed in 1928 at the cost of $1,250,000. T h e original set-up involved $200,000 contributed from the Tripp estate with contributions of about $600,000 from alumni and friends. A loan of $120,000 was made on the strength of unpaid pledges, which is being paid off. T h e balance necessary, particularly for equipment, was obtained by means of a mortgage for $400,000 placed on the building. A compulsory fee of $5.00 a semester and $1.50 for the summer school provides an income by which the financing can be carried through. T h e Union sells a life membership to students _ for $50, $100 to others. T h e cafeteria is very popular and much used. F o r men only, a rathskeller is maintained in the basement.

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LOBBY OF T E X A S U N I O N IS the center of activity of the building. The manager's and other executive offices open into the lobby and various rooms are provided on the second floor for committee meetings, gleeclub rehearsals, student organizations, etc., accessible from the gallery. LOUNGE OF TEXAS UNION AT Austin, Texas, is a lovely room with plenty of easy chairs, davenports, rugs and other effective furnishings. Much used during the day for quiet conference arui idle half-hours for students or for entertaining visiting parties. T h e ceiling is of the vaulted type and ample floor space is provided (150 by 100 feet) for dances up to four hundred couples, lectures, concerts and receptions. A small stage at one end allows the use of the room for the less pretentious theatricals. A corridor runs along one side which can be used as a promenade or for light service from the kitchens.

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P U R D U E U N I O N L O B B Y OR Memorial Hall is a very impressive room, 40 by 60 feet, with a two-story ceiling and a large memorial tablet in the floor. T h e view shown is toward the north with the grand staircase leading up to the second floor. T h e floor is ornamented with a border pattern of black and gold tiles. From this hall, doors lead to the east into the men's lounge and to the west into the concourse with second-floor window openings into the women's lounge o n one side and alumni a n d faculty lounge on the other. A very effective interior which h a s developed a splendid tradition a m o n g Pin due students. UNIVERSITY OP WOCIIKSTKK

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