Published: November 17, 2010

“We don’t look like a college. We’re sick of feeling like we don’t go to a ‘college,’” Brandi D’Esposito, president of United Student Government (USG) said. This is the sentiment among USG members that has prompted the proposal of aesthetic changes to be made to Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC).

After meeting with Peter Bundock, assistant vice president of facilities operations at FCLC, USG was asked for a list of changes they would like to see on campus. Chris Chromey, FCLC ’12 and USG Senate pro tempore, who has spearheaded advancements in the realm of facilities, including aesthetic upgrades, said that the list is being finalized and will be presented to Bundock by the last week of November.

The changes USG has proposed include hanging maroon banners throughout the Leon Lowenstein building, flags throughout the plaza and along 60th street, and a sign outside of McMahon Hall indicating that it is a college dorm instead of another Manhattan apartment building.

In response to these proposals, Bundock said it “depends if it can be done at all. If it was supported [by administration] it would take far less than a year.”

In order for these changes to take place, Bundock said to “make [the changes] known to me and I’ll run them by the administration.” Once they are approved, Bundock said he will need to see “whether there will be financing for them.”

As for the flags along the street lights on 60th Street, Bundock responded, “I’m not sure we own those. [I don’t know] whether we can do that or not, but it’s an idea.”

Bundock also said that there is an architectural upgrade of the Lowenstein building commencing, and that they “can take those into consideration.” The upgrade includes installing rugs and chairs inclassrooms, energy saving motion control lights and renovating the ceilings and corridors.

According to Bundock, rugs have already been installed on the 5th floor of Lowenstein and other floors will continue to be upgraded throughout the year. Bundock said these upgrades will “probably keep the noise down and improve audibility, and overall ambiance and comfort of the room.”

Ryan Murphy, FCLC’11 and former USG president, said, “We should at least abide by University colors.” He expressed his dissatisfaction with the inconsistent colors of the interior of the building, saying, “We should be maroon and white, not blue and white.”

Ideally, USG said they would like the rest of the floors in Lowenstein to mirror the sixth floor, which is home to the Graduate School of Business. D’Esposito said she understood that “We don’t have the same budget [as the graduate school]. They don’t have student activities to split their funding.” They also noted that all their funding goes into one floor, whereas the rest of FCLC funding is spread throughout Lowenstein and McMahon Hall.

Murphy met with Jed Applebaum, assistant director of facilities operations at FCLC, last year about aesthetic changes. “We’re an office building filled with students and we understand that there are ‘adults’ here and grad students. At the same time you can’t ignore four years of students just for a bunch of night students. Especially when the floors that we’re concerned with are not the floors that predominantly have night classes,” Murphy said.

Chromey said USG started discussing these proposals last year, but “it became a much higher priority this year.” Facilities meetings are held every Thursday at 11:30 a.m. Members of USG, including all senators, meet with their advisor Dorothy Wenzel, director of Student Leadership and Community Development, to discuss matters pertinent to facility management. The meeting is also open to students to attend.

As a result of the Nov. 4 meeting, Chromey said, “The follow-up is supposed to be coming from us at this point.” The list is set to be finalized by the last week of November and will include feedback from students about what they want to see on campus.

Chromey said, “Last week we put a lot of ideas down on paper, but what I wanted to do now is go out to the rest of students and talk to people and find out what everyone else wants so it’s not just five USG people deciding what we want to turn Lincoln Center into.”