The Student Life Center Petition

Subject: Changing the Name of the Vanderbilt Student Life Center

To: the Vanderbilt Board of Trustees and Administration

We, the undersigned, support changing the name of the Vanderbilt Student Life Center (SLC). The name of the building is not reflected in the use or facilities available to students therein. There is a lack of student gathering space, study areas, availability of rooms for student organizations, limited operating hours (ex. The SLC closes at 5 PM, except for organizations that have reserved space). These all contribute to a general absence of opportunity for "student life" to take place within the facility. The supporters of this petition believe that the current name of the SLC is unacceptable and is an inaccurate portrayal of the facility to students, parents, donors, and the greater Nashville community.

This petition and its supporters believe that changing the name of the SLC to an alternative name could result in a name that more aptly reflects the function of the building or honors a past or present member of the Vanderbilt community. The changed name could have a greatly positive impact within the Vanderbilt community as a whole. We are asking that the Board of Trust and school administration listen to the voice of the students by changing the name of the Student Life Center by the end of the 2005-2006 school year.

*Note: All petition signers are undergraduate students at Vanderbilt University during the 2005-2006 school year.

Written by Michael Ward

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Although Michael Ward wrote the petition, I must share full responsibility for the debacle as well. I didn't want to seem biased because I was, at the time, the Editor of Versus Magazine. By now I've realized that most people wouldn't have cared and it probably would have looked better.