A student union at Metropolitan State?
Your signature can make it a reality

-- Lora Copus, Student Senator

The dream of a student union at Metropolitan State University has survived apathy from the administration and student turnover. While the administration continues to drag its feet on this project, student survey after student survey proves that students want a union. And although individual students graduate and move on every year, the desire for a student union remains because it is important.

Students want a union because of the possibilities it creates. Possible uses of the space include, but are not limited to: low- to no-cost daycare, a restaurant run by students, a copy center, classrooms that the administration could rent from students, a workout facility, a convenience store run by students, and a lounge area. Offering course credits to students who run businesses within the union is a real possibility, and profits generated by the union would fund the facility or other student projects. These ideas are working right now at other universities all around the United States.

The idea of a student union surfaced at this university in the early 1990s, and since that time the Student Senate has saved hundreds of thousands of dollars for the project. These are student funds that have already been allocated for the facility. The proposed location of the union has been decided. With the help of an architecture firm, a pre-design has been created. Everything is set to begin construction, except for approval from the university president and administration.

Students sometimes have tenuous relations with the administration, but the student government works hard every day to smooth this relationship and work toward positive goals. Efforts to build the proposed student union have, thus far, been unsuccessful because of the administration’s unwillingness to assist in the project’s development.

A 2001 survey of 580 students indicated that 67.2 percent were in favor of a student union. A 2004 survey of 601 students indicated that 64 percent of those students supported the idea of a student union. Amazingly, these surveys were done cold; the administration didn’t inform survey participants that students could potentially own the union building and it could provide profits and bargains for students. They only said it will cost somewhere between $6 a credit and $7.25 a credit. They made no mention that our student fees are the lowest of all Minnesota state universities (currently $3), and that even after adding $7.25 per credit we are still lowest by almost 50 percent. The benefits of a student union far outweigh the costs, and a student union could save students money and time, and create opportunities.

Metropolitan State University is the only Minnesota state university without a student union. My research done at Minnesota state universities and universities with similar demographics indicates that student unions are one of the greatest assets a university can have. Students control student unions, and all money spent at the union goes right back to the students it serves. The services provided by the union are limited only by the imagination of the students who direct them.

Student government is a voice for students, and it advocates positive change within universities, communities and the world. The dreams of students working for a particular cause can get lost, not for lack of effort, but because students graduate and have to leave projects unfinished. To put it simply, the student graduates but the dream does not. Sometimes the administration uses this turnover to their advantage by not fostering growth in student-initiated projects.

This is a call to all Metropolitan State University students. Sign the petition for a student union. Ask for copies of the petition to get more students to sign it. Write emails. Write letters to the editor. Ask questions. Demand answers from the administration. Remember, that while change is inevitable, growth is optional. Opt for growth. Sign the petition.

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