EDITORIAL: The possibilities on Locust Walk

A student center is just one workable idea for the use of the former Phi Sigma Kappa house. With the shortage of student space exacerbated by the closing of Houston Hall, an alternative location for meetings and activities would certainly ease the complications student groups have experienced this fall. Additionally, the post-Fling pancake breakfast last May proved that non-alcoholic, University-sponsored events can be a huge success. Such events could only benefit from a specific site on Locust Walk. But once Houston Hall reopens and Perelman Quad construction is completed, University administrators should reconsider the use of the building. Certainly the Panhellenic Council would like to see the house go to a sorority, so that there is at least some female Greek presence on Locust Walk. An altogether different option worthy of consideration, however, is to recolonize a residential community service program on the Walk. Although much work over the summer went into the new community service-oriented Civic Center in Superblock, interest in the residential aspect of the program has substantially declined since it was moved to the high rises. A central space on campus, as when the program was based in the Castle at 36th Street and Locust Walk, would make the program more visible to both potential participants and those they serve. Especially now that the University is putting such an emphasis on residential communities, it is worth providing a once-successful program with its best shot at survival.