Atwood celebrates 50 years as student center

Atwood staff will celebrate the anniversary with a weekend of tours, a reception and program. The Atwood Time Capsule from the 1992 renovation will be unveiled at 4:45 p.m. Nov. 4 in the Cascade Room.

The celebration will start of with a Birthday Party for on-campus students, faculty and staff 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Nov. 2 featuring cake and giveaways. Architects from BTR will be on hand to share their vision of Atwood Memorial Center’s future as part of the university’s Comprehensive Facilities Plan.

Tours for the public will be available Nov. 3-5 with an evening program planned for alumni and former Atwood staff.

Former students, faculty and staff are already making plans to return for the reunion, said Mitch Karstens, Atwood executive director.

Alumni and former employees are returning from across the country. All but one past director will be back for the celebration, he said.

Margaret Vos, a former Atwood director from 1997-2013, is looking forward to seeing former students and coworkers.

“We can’t wait to bring them all together to really talk about how we each and every one of us stood on the shoulders of the ones before us,” she said. “… We just really look forward to having those conversations. With everyone who has a reunion it is a time to look back on the past, celebrate those accomplishments, reflect on where we are today, what has changed and what has remained the same and look to the future.”

The students and staff who work in this building are heavily engaged in what they do, and students have been involved in the past renovations to this building so it’s important to give them a chance to come back 10, 20, 30 years later to see what their efforts have turned into for students today, Karstens siad.

“Anytime you cross over a major milestone it’s important to celebrate that,” he said. “Atwood’s 50th, I think, in particular is really important because of the place that Atwood has served on campus for the last 50 years. … The development of our students engagement on campus kind of all radiates from this building.”

When Atwood Memorial Center opened as Atwood Memorial College Center in September 1966 it was the first building on campus designed to be a student union. The center was dedicated on Nov. 4, 1967. Funded by donations from alumni and friends of the university and student fees, construction on the building began in 1964, according to University Archives.

The building has always been student-centered, Vos said.

“Students have a voice in saying how the building should be run,” she said. “Students have a voice on an advisory council and that still runs today.”

Students have input in decisions about what food options should be offered in the building and what the building hours should be because the building is funded by student fees. The building has always been on the cutting edge of technology on campus. The building housed the university’s first server and  first water bottle filling stations.

“The building has changed, technology has changed, but the very core of it is still alive and well,” Vos said.

Atwood is the heart of campus. It is a destination for dining and meetings. About 10,000 people walk through the building each day. The building is also the center of student life and development on campus. It is home to more than 200 student organizations where students grow leadership and organizational skills that they take with them into their future careers.

The building has been expanded three times and renovated more times with the final expansion opening in April 2004.

Vos led Atwood through the most recent renovation in 2013. At the time the building felt piecemeal with walls blocking off the main level. The renovation removed walls and added windows, and today the Atwood main floor has an airy and open feel.

“I love this place. This is a life-changing place,” Vos said. “It changes our students and makes them amazing citizens of the world. And I think Atwood is at the core of it all. It is the crossroads of campus. It is the gathering place of the university.”

Anniversary schedule

Thursday
11 a.m.-2 p.m. Birthday Celebration
Atwood Main Lounge

Friday
1-4 p.m. Atwood Tours
5, 8 and 10:30 p.m. “Despicable Me 3”, Atwood Theatre
7:30 p.m. Men’s Hockey, Herb Brooks National Hockey Center

Saturday
11 a.m.-5 p.m.  Atwood Tours
3-9 p.m. Photo Booth
3-5 p.m. Stuff a Husky, Main Lounge
5, 8 and 10 p.m. “Despicable Me 3”, Atwood Theatre
4:45 p.m. Time Capsule Unveiling
5-9 p.m. Reception and program, Cascade Room

Sunday
Tours available upon request