Student Leaders
They want to leave a legacy. Three years ago Claire Carter was an interior design student at OSU when she was approached with an educational opportunity beyond what she could have imagined — to be a part of the first renovation of the then 55-year-old Student Union building. As Student Government Association president, Carter was approached by Student Union Director Mitch Kilcrease about the future of the Student Union building and asked to help assemble a committee of students, faculty and staff to spearhead efforts in raising funds and securing approval to renovate the building. “Working on this project was the highlight of my college experience,” Carter says. “I enjoyed it more than anything else.” The Student Union renovation was born out of the need to update the building’s infrastructure, which has not been altered since it was built in 1950. The renovations will include new centers for leadership and ethics, and diversity and inclusion; a new Career Services and University Counseling Services areas; additional lounges and open spaces for students; state-of-the-art conference and meeting rooms; reorganization of current services to better fit the needs of
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the students; technology, infrastructure and life safety systems upgrades; and facility upgrades to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Total cost of the project is estimated at $86 million. While Carter’s role as SGA president made her a natural representative of the student body to serve on the project’s design team, her interior design education allowed her to apply classroom knowledge in a real-world setting.
Student members of the Design Team are (from left) Myles Pegues, Leigh Williams, Omogbolahan “Bola” Samusedeen Jabitta, Emilee Lehenbauer and Ideen Jahanshahi.