DUC renovations begin March 19

Gephardt Institute to move in; student media grouped on third floor

A three-phase construction project will bring the Gephardt Institute for Public Service into the Danforth University Center (DUC) on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis and consolidate student media groups.

The Gephardt Institute and key student media — including Student Life, WUTV and KWUR 90.3 FM — will be grouped on the center’s third floor, along with the DUC recording studio.

Construction begins Monday, March 19. The Gephardt Institute is expected to move from its current location in Eliot Hall to the DUC by June 1.

The move gives the Gephardt Institute a permanent home in a central location. It also places the institute much closer to the Community Service Office, the co-curricular branch of its operations, which is located on the second floor in the Campus Life area.

‘Inviting to all’

The Gephardt Institute promotes lifelong civic engagement and sustained community impact through service initiatives.

“We are very excited to join the DUC community,” says Amanda Moore McBride, PhD, director for the Gephardt Institute and associate professor and associate dean in the Brown School. “As a university-wide entity that collaborates with faculty, staff, students and community partners, we look forward to settling into a space that is accessible and inviting to all.”

Leslie Heusted, director of the Danforth University Center and event management, says the renovation plan incorporates more common/lounge space for students and is a better utilization of the third-floor square footage.

Move spurs collaboration

Most importantly, she says, the new layout will spur more collaboration and crossover on student media projects. “Media is no longer divided in the current age,” Heusted says. “There is a lot of excitement from the student perspective. Students have been working together to create the space, which will offer more opportunities for them to work more closely together at the project’s conclusion.”

Student Life newspaper will remain in its current location on the third floor. The Gephardt Institute will take over the space of a student print media suite.

To create a new work area for the media suite, nearby storage space is being repurposed. In this suite, students create a variety of print resources, such as Washington University Political Review, The Hatchet yearbook, OneWorld social justice magazine and Spires literary magazine. (While renovation is under way, students in the print media suite will share space with WUTV.)

Phases 2 and 3

Phase 2 of the project will move the DUC recording studio into a shared space with WUTV (Washington University Television). The two studios previously were located in separate spaces on the third floor. The Office of Public Affairs currently uses the recording studio to accommodate broadcast media interviews on campus.

This consolidation within a shared space will enhance those services. Projected completion is Aug. 1. To accommodate the move, the DUC recording studio will not be operational until August.

In the final phase, KWUR, the university’s student-run radio station, will move from its current location in the Women’s Building into shell space on the DUC third floor. Exact timing is still undetermined, but the move will occur during the next academic year.

Other offices on the third floor — the Liberman Graduate Center and Danforth University Center & Event Management — will not be affected.


Media Contact  Deb Parker
FEATURED WASHU EXPERTS