During the summer the wall between the Snack Shop and the Campus Store was removed, and the Campus Store became the smaller Bruins Shop, to create more space for socializing. Cuppa Jones was also relocated to The Den, to facilitate an atmosphere of fellowship for residence hall and day students.
In the days of soda fountains and assigned seats for mealtimes, the Student Center was the hub of student life on campus. It housed just about everything: a gym, photo studio, campus store, snack shop, barbershop and social parlor. “A student leaving campus was very rare,” said Dr. David Fisher, vice provost. “You didn’t have cars. Downtown was three miles away, and unless you caught a bus going down, the life of a student was on campus.” So the Student Center met the daily needs of students and provided a place to socialize. In those days students open could be found sitting at the tall barstools in Little Moby’s, the first snack shop.
Over the years the Student Center has been updated many times to meet the needs of the student body, and this year it was time for yet another change.
During the summer the wall between the Snack Shop and the Campus Store was removed, and the Campus Store became the smaller Bruins Shop, to create more space for socializing. Cuppa Jones was also relocated to The Den, to facilitate an atmosphere of fellowship for residence hall and day students.
“We talk about entering into iron-sharpening-iron relationships. And the more we interact with each other, the more we participate in that." —Roy Hulehan
"The end goal was always to create a destination for students to build community," said Roy Hulehan.
The Den is now a comfortable and more versatile space, providing couches and chairs for relaxing, booths for catching up with friends over dinner, private rooms for meetings and large tables for group projects. The renovations provide opportunities for discipleship, collaboration and a place to hang out — all in a central location on campus, updated to fit the needs of the current student body. Though Little Moby’s, the Snack Shop and The Den have changed with the student body, the emphasis always has been the same: building Christ-centered relationships.