It was 2016, the sun was shining and there was a beautiful spacious area outside the Performance Center.

It was filled with trees, squirrels and benches where we used to spend the days relaxing and drinking smoothies.

And now, there is a giant slab of concrete and no more squirrels or smoothies.

Instead of smelling the fresh cut grass, we now smell exhaust from construction vehicles, and what for?

We understand that the Welcome Center is designed to welcome students for orientations, but that only happens a few times a year in the summertime.

So why spend all that money on a building that looks like a spaceship, when it could be going toward academics, parking or more opportunities for students?

The university already has the Griffin Center, which is barely used. The building has a decent amount of parking and university vans could shuttle prospective and incoming students across campus if distance became an issue. We could have easily saved money and time and just used that building for new students.

The Welcome Center does not bring in more students and in 2017 the university didn’t have enough money to even continue building it.

As a university, we believe we should be investing in programs that help students or new opportunities for learning.

Because a nice big piece of concrete taking up a beautiful grassy area is not inviting or helping students grow.

Although we know the intended idea of why the Welcome Center is there, what is the point for it for the rest of the year? And who works there?

Also the green roof is another major question.

Did they feel so bad about taking away our natural space that they had to put one on top of a building?  

There are so many unanswered questions here, including when will we be able to use the walkway again? When will we be able to make our way from the parking lot to Chick-fil-A quickly and efficiently, without needing to climb the stairs in the UC?

Another point to bring up is the traffic situation.

We all know that little parking area is going to get backed up real quick.

We’re just saying this thing was supposed to be completed in July and here we are in September and it’s just now looking finished.

Maybe the $3,076,950 could’ve been used more effectively.

We will say, however, the flowers are a nice touch though.