c/o Peyton De Winter

The University Organizing Center (UOC) has been temporarily closed as of Tuesday, Sept. 17 after a failed fire safety inspection, according to an all-campus email from the Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA). The building, located at 190 High St., will be reevaluated on Monday, Sept. 30 after further survey. 

“We are requesting that all student groups and individuals using the University Organizing Center (in any capacity) participate in cleaning the space to ensure it is once again safe and functional,” the WSA stated in their email to the student body. 

Established in 2004, the UOC is a student-run space on campus, removed from administration oversight and focused on providing a meeting space for student groups. The WSA monitors usage of the building, but student groups on campus can use the building as they see fit. 

This closure marks the second time the UOC has been closed in recent history, after disruptions during the 2020–2021 school year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and subsequent reopening in Spring 2022.

Fire Safety initially raised concerns about the building at the beginning of the school year, when they reported furniture blocking fire escape stairwells and hallways, flammable items stored unsafely, storage and a generator left in the fire panel room, and inaccessible doorways. The building has limited monitoring by the WSA, but student groups are not required to report any usage of the building, nor items left in the building. 

The WSA required students to clean the building during a prescribed time period, and provided a dumpster for students to remove any concerning storage items in. When objects remained in the building, WesCard access to the building was revoked, despite the building not requiring key card access in the past. A small, approved list of student groups still have access to the building under the purview of Fire Safety and the Office of Student Involvement. 

The WSA hosted a town hall on Monday, Sept. 23 in the Frank Center for Public Affairs to address ways in which representatives can work with students and student groups to prevent future safety concerns in the space. Representatives from groups that have access to specific locked rooms within the building, such as Redfeather and Sound Co-op, along with other student group leaders discussed both the immediate closure of the building, as well as long-term renovation plans with WSA chairs. 

In this meeting, leaders of student groups reported that there is not enough space to hold meetings, despite the intention of the UOC to be a meeting space. The WSA shared potential changes they have discussed. 

“We talked about expanding the meeting room, and how that would be really awesome and helpful for [student groups],” Community Chair Noelle Crandell ’27 said at the town hall. 

The WSA is working to find a storage space specifically for student groups, as there is currently no clear storage options for WSA-funded clubs and groups. 

“It’s a bummer that the UOC is [temporarily] closed,” member of Sound Co-op Graham Glassner ’27 wrote in a message to The Argus. “Hopefully it means we will have a better space in the future though.” 

Student groups also made complaints over potential safety and accessibility issues, reporting leakage in the basement, exposed wires, mold on the walls, and a lack of ramps to enter the building, which is not compliant with federal accessibility laws.  

Looking forward, the WSA is planning on creating more avenues of communication with student groups and locked-room occupants in order to ensure clearer standards for usage of the space. 

“Upon reopening, WSA is excited to collaborate with students to ensure that this issue does not occur again,” the WSA wrote in a statement to The Argus. “The UOC is vital for campus activism and organizing, and we are determined to bring it back better than ever before.” 

Anabel Goode can be reached at agoode@wesleyan.edu.