New graduate student lounge opens in Curtis Hall

The new graduate student lounge in Curtis Hall celebrated its opening on Feb. 26. The lounge's opening was attended by graduate students and graduate directors, and it also featured a visit from University President Anthony Monaco.

According to Burns Healy, president of the Graduate Student Council (GSC), the new lounge is meant to provide an additional on-campus space for graduate students.

Currently, there is another graduate student lounge in West Hall that has a conference room and a computer room, but it can only fit 20 of the 1,800 total graduate students, according to Irina Yakubovskaya,vice president of the GSC.

According to Healy, the West Hall lounge will continue to exist until further talks with the administration about the future of graduate space take place.

Prior to the creation of the lounge in Curtis Hall, the graduate student population lacked a space that was conducive to creating connections and relationships, Yakubovskaya said. She hopes that this issue will be eliminated now that graduate students are being provided with the unique opportunities the new lounge has to offer.

“The GSC wanted to accommodate the students by creating a designated social place for larger social events such as movies and other events,” he said.

The process of creating the lounge was lengthy and collaborative and lasted a year and a half, according to Healy.

According to Bruce Reitman, dean of campus life and leadership, the process began only once the space was made available after the media lab moved to the mezzanine level of Curtis Hall.

“After a brief stint of the space on the first floor housing a research grant, it became available and my office was able to make a case of using it for graduate students," Reitman told the Daily in an email. "The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering joined our effort to identify funding to refurbish and furnish the space.”

Originally, after the completion of the foundational groundwork, the plan was to open the lounge in the fall of 2014, but due to structural damage and other minor setbacks, this proved impossible, according to Yakubovskaya.

In the long run, the decision to open in February rather than the original November deadline was a better option, Yakubovskaya said.

Yakubovskaya said she created the guest list for the event and handled most of the planning.

"I took the liberty of making artistic decisions such as decorations, flowers and music in an effort to make the event affordable, cozy and welcoming,” she said.

Reitman was pleased with ceremony inaugurating the lounge.

“The new center was packed to the gills and there was a lot of enthusiasm," he said. "Tufts Catering did a terrific job with the food, and the GSC planned a great program and provided a cake and cupcakes decorated for the grand opening."

The event itself created significant positive attention that Yakubovskaya hopes will continue with future events.

The GSC expects that graduate students from across fields will take advantage of the lounge, and that the lounge will help foster social and interdisciplinary interactions and collaboration at all levels, Yakubovskaya said.

Reitman added that while many graduate students spend most of their social time within their own departments, the lounge offers a great opportunity for students from different departments to interact.

“Most graduate students have their primary affiliation with the students and faculty in their own departments and that is where they spend almost all of their time on campus," Reitman said. "This may be fine for many, but there are many others who would like to feel more connected to others in the schools -- the new center in Curtis is a start in that direction that I hope we can add to in coming years."