Student Center History
Georgia Tech in 1970The Fred B. Wenn Building – Period of Origin
The Georgia Tech Student Center opened its doors in early 1970 as the realization of a dream and much effort on the part of Omicron Delta Kappa, a student honor society. The state-of-the-art building, just under 100,000 square feet in size, beautifully appointed with molded plastic lime-green furniture and hot pink butterfly chairs, met the needs of the nearly 7,000 students enrolled at that time.

Building services included a cafeteria, a Music Browsing Room, Craft Center, ballroom, a movie theatre, meeting rooms, full-service Post Office, an art gallery, a chapel, a table-service dining area, and several lounges, in addition to a recreation area with twelve bowling lanes, a billiards room, table games and cards for use in the area, and a video arcade. The cafeteria was touted for using the scramble system, whereby customers went to several stations for food choices rather than down one line. The Recreation Area was the first on a college campus
to have automatic scoring machines for bowling.

The new Student Center’s constitution and by-laws outlined the makeup of the bodies overseeing the building’s policies and the activity functions to guarantee a student governance structure which still exists today. Since its inception, the Student Center has been dedicated to the development of students as leaders, programmers, employees, and individuals.

The original Program Board consisted of 17 student committees and four student officers. Through the years, although the campus student population has more than doubled, the number of committees has stabilized at approximately 10. In keeping with student interests and societal trends, the committee names and purposes have varied over the years. Some committees, such as Homecoming, have been integral to Georgia Tech’s rich history of traditions, and have remained in place throughout the years.

Staffing and Organizational Structure
Under the guidance of directors Tim Mitchell from 1970 - 1973, Roger Wehrle from 1974 – 1992, and Rich Steele from 1992 – present, the department, as part of Auxiliary Services, originally had a dual reporting structure to both the Chief Student Affairs Officer and the Chief Financial. This changed to a single reporting structure to Auxiliary Services in 1995 when the Division of Auxiliary Services was created to be led by a new Associate Vice President, Rosalind R. Meyers. Staff longevity has been a hallmark of the Student Center with numerous staff ending their careers upon retirement from Georgia Tech. This trend continues as several current staff members have 20+ years of service.

Program Transitions
The community service functions on campus were housed in the Student Center when it opened. By late 1973, the programs were growing to such an extent that a position was added to the program staff to oversee community services and campus organizations advisement. The programs continued to expand until, in the mid 1990's, a position was created to advise community service programs. In 2002, the program was moved to Student Affairs to support the Campus Leadership Initiative. New student orientation was created in the early 1970's, placed in the Student Center Programs Area in 1972, named FASET (Familiarization and Adaptation to the Surroundings and Environs of Tech) by the program staff, and expanded to include sessions for transfers each quarter. By 1979 the program had outgrown its space and Dean James E. Dull transferred it to the Student Affairs office. The campus outdoor recreation program got its start in the Student Center.

Initially called Outward Bound, the program was in place by 1971, offering kayaking, canoeing, caving, vertical caving, and rafting instruction and outings. By 1974, the name had been changed to ORGT (Outdoor Recreation Georgia Tech). The program transferred in the winter of 1986 to the Student Athletic Complex.

In fall of 1978, a student who had single-handedly been managing a program called Free University graduated. The program offered a variety of non-credit courses. A new position was created on Program Board for a chairperson to run the courses. Renamed OPTIONS, the program offered 14 classes on various topics and five craft classes in the spring of 1979, and remains popular by providing participants life skill-building courses for a low cost. Started in late 1998, the GT Edge was the campus co-curricular transcript program. Created by program staff, the transcript allowed a student to track, on a web site, the knowledge and skills he or she was building by participating in extra- and co-curricular activities. Upon graduation, the students in the program would receive a leadership transcript, signed by the Dean of Students, to accompany his or her diploma. By 2002, when the President of GT moved the program to Student Affairs for oversight, 386 students were enrolled in the
program.

The Olympic Period
The 1996 Centennial Summer Olympic Games brought a world of attention and media coverage to the campus and the Student Center served as the center of athlete services during the games. Several areas in the building were modified to meet the needs of the 15,000 athletes and the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games. For example, the Ballroom became a complete Australian Body Works fitness center, the Food Court became VIP Dining serving visiting dignitaries and Heads of State, AT&T established a calling center in office suite 228 and the
computer cluster, UPS created a shipping center in the Post Office, raw video feeds from several venues were continuously presented in the Theatre, and the Center for the Arts hosted high-level national meetings, a visit from President Clinton, and regular entertainment.

Student Center CommonsNotable Facility Changes
Significant upgrades to the Food Court serving area and dining room occurred in 1982 and were featured on the cover of the NACAS Journal. To meet the overwhelming demand for lunch in the Food Court, an outdoor patio was
enclosed in 1986 to create a 4,000 square foot, 350-seat Greenhouse dining room. In 1987, the Post Office was expanded with a 6,000 square feet addition to accommodate 15,020 mailboxes, nearly doubling the number of boxes previously available.

The Theatre for the Arts (now Ferst Center) opened in 1992 as an expansion of the Student Center with its two large multi-purpose rooms and 1,100-seat proscenium stage theatre. The Theatre reported through the Student Center organization for the first 7 seasons and was transferred to report through Auxiliary Services with an expanded mission to reach out more to the community. A highlight was hosting the 1992 Vice-Presidential Debate with Al Gore, Dan Quayle, and Adm. James Stockdale.

In 1997, the Ballroom was expanded into 1,500 square feet of adjacent storage and patio space and was fully renovated to accommodate larger campus events. Houston Building to Stamps Commons

In 1974, the Houston Bookstore Building opened with approximately 22,000 square feet dedicated to meeting the retail and textbook needs of students. Growth in student population prompted the construction of the Houston Mall Addition in 1985, a two-story structure with 27,000 square feet for retail shops on the ground level and textbooks and school supplies upstairs. In 2003, the Bookstore function moved into larger space at Technology Square promoting the complete renovation of 49,000 square feet and reallocation of this space as the Penny & Roe Stamps Student Center Commons.

The Stamps Student Center Commons was completed in March, 2004 and was fully occupied and dedicated in August, 2004. Services included Pandini’s Italian restaurant, Jackets Pub-style restaurant, Einstein Bros’ Bagels, Starbucks walk-up, SGA and Student Involvement Center offices, 6 meeting spaces, numerous lounges, a central performance stage and retail services including Burdell’s Store, College Optical, Hair Cuttery, and STA Travel. The inviting design and comfortable ambiance have resulted in significant usage and the finished product was featured on the cover of the ACUI January, 2005 “Bulletin”.