Finding a new home

Women's Center finds new place ini Student Life Building

November 05, 2008
By Ashley Rueff
Staff Reporter

The UIS Women's Center expects new opportunities to walk through its doors now that they've opened them at a new location on campus.
The center moved out of it's cramped space in the Student Affairs Building and into the Student Life Building where there's more space to breath, said Women's Center Director, Lynn Otterson.   

Photo by Amanda Dahlquist The Women's Center is now located in the Student Life Buildinig, down the ahll from the Diversity Center. An open house will be held on Thursday afternoon from 3:30-5:30 p.m. to celebrate the new location.

“It was a good home for us in many ways, but we had definitely outgrown it,” Otterson said.     

To celebrate the move, the center is holding an open house 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday at SLB 15 to welcome the campus community to its new digs.   

Otterson said the center has grown since the program began in its original office in 1994. The old location made it difficult for classes and clubs to fit in the center, and storage had long been a problem.     

“We started storing upwards years ago,” she said. “It felt very confined.”

After a lot of packing and unpacking, the center is finally settling into its new space and adjusting to the change of scenery. The center made the move in early October and only has a few final touches to make.

The bright colored room has new bookshelves lined with reading materials and figurines of goddesses that have been donated over the years. The funky furniture is worn but welcoming for those who stop in to watch T.V. between classes.

Lisa Koerkenmeier, graduate assistant at the center, said more people are stopping in to see what all the commotion is about.

 “They'll see the bright colors and be drawn in,” Koerkenmeier said.

Being in SLB is drawing a lot more of visitors from the normal foot-traffic in the building.

Otterson said more students have been stopping in to check out the center simply because its there.

“We still have those dedicated students, staff, faculty and community,” she said. “But now we have people who simply find us there, stop in, and decide they like what we have to offer.”

The new location next to the Diversity Center is part of a plan for the Women's Center to be included under the Diversity Center's umbrella of operations.

“Already it is clear that there are great riches for us in this new institutional home,” Otterson said, adding she's excited to see how the center will grow in its new environment.

Otterson and Koerkenmeier invite everyone to come check out the new center Thursday during the open house to mingle and enjoy some refreshments.

For more information, visit www.uis.edu/womenscenter.