SU unveils plans for Schine Student Center renovations

SU officials unveil Schine Student Center plans

The newly renovated building will have an expanded dining experience, more space for meetings and spaces for campus cultural centers.
Published: April 11, 2019
Rendering of the renovations to the Schine Student Center
Rendering of the renovations planned for the Schine Student Center.

Syracuse University officials unveiled renderings for renovations of the Schine Student Center, including new dining center and student meeting centers.

The Tuesday unveiling in the center’s atrium featured Renée Schine Crown, the building’s original benefactor. Crown pulled back the curtain to reveal an image of the center’s future: a bright space filled with students interacting and working together.

The newly renovated center will have an additional 8,600 square feet devoted to student activities, Chancellor Kent Syverud said. There will be more space for student activities, studying, hanging out and eating, he said.

The Crowns, Renée and Lester, did not want the student center to be filled with administrative offices, Syverud said, but rather a space for students to connect and interact with each other.

“The Crowns have been such an active part in reimagining the Schine Student Center to serve all our students and all our students’ needs,” Syverud said in his opening remarks.

The newly renovated center will have increased accessibility, a new dining “experience,” centralized spaces for student activities and increased and versatile space for student connectivity, according to an SU News release. There will also be an outdoor terrace, Syverud said.

Construction on the center will begin shortly after the 2019 Commencement, on May 12, Syverud said.

The original Schine Student Center opened in the 1980s following a donation from the Crowns, and the building was named after Renee’s parents — Hildegarde and J. Myer Schine, per the release.

Rendering of the renovations to the Schine Student Center
Rendering of the renovations to the Schine Student Center
Rendering of the renovations to the Schine Student Center

Dolan Evanovich, senior vice president for enrollment and the student experience, said student input on the project was integral to its conception — officials had focus groups, meetings with student leaders and presentations in the center and residence halls. More than 1,600 people at SU were consulted about the renovations, according to the release.

Student Association President Ghufran Salih was also in attendance. Salih said SA met with university leaders, architects and students about feedback for the project.

The new space will not only provide greater visibility for student organizations, she said, but it could have significance for students’ experiences at SU. It will be a place of laughter, of triumph and of escape, she said.

Several cultural centers and offices, including the LGBT Resource Center and the Office of Multicultural Affairs, will move to Schine following renovations. They are currently housed in Bird Library on the 5th floor.

“As someone who spends a lot of time in this building. A lot. A lot. An absurd amount, really,” Salih said. “I know many of us consider this place home.”