This fall Carleton will dedicate its first building named in honor of a class. With its record-breaking gift of more than $65 million, the Class of 1974 Center will revolutionize student health and wellbeing at Carleton. Located on the corner of Union and First street, the Class of 1974 Center will house Student Health and Counseling (SHAC) as well as the Office of Accessibility Resources (OAR) and the Title IX Office.
Sam Thayer ’10, the director for OAR, says she and her team are very excited about the new space. Unlike their current location, the new building will be more easily accessible, and all the team’s offices will be located on the same floor. “We’re really grateful to have been so involved in the process of planning,” said Thayer, “and I feel like we’ve really had the opportunity to make sure that the design team and the build team have a good understanding of the scope of our work.”
OAR’s relocation into the Class of 1974 Center with SHAC will also make it easier for the two offices to collaborate. The close proximity of the two offices will help ensure students with physical and mental disabilities have easy access to both accommodations and any mental or emotional counseling they need. SHAC and OAR will also be able to simultaneously care for student injuries (such as broken limbs and concussions) and organize appropriate accommodations.
SHAC is also looking forward to more accessible space in the Class of 1974 Center and to finally leaving the basement of Davis Hall, which was originally meant to be a temporary home but lasted 30 years. Because the basement of Davis wasn’t built to be a clinic, it has long faced challenges such as combined medical and office spaces and lack of proper soundproofing. While Marit Lysne, the SHAC director, says they’ll appreciate the more clinic-like build of the new center, they don’t want the space to feel sterile and are grateful to have been so involved in the planning and designing process.
“We’re all very excited for this new facility,” Lysne said, “but also for this new way that we get to be serving students’ health and wellness.”
