Dining Hall
Great for meals — but the pressure to buy food, clear your tray, and free the table makes it a poor place to relax for an hour.
Expects you to consumeAn Advocacy Project
College isn't just lectures. It's where you belong.
Dining halls serve food. Libraries serve quiet. Gyms serve workouts. But where on campus can you just be — hang out, make a friend, and stay without buying anything? That's the space we're missing.
🏛️
Sociologists call these missing places "third places" — and your campus is running on just two.
The Problem
We have hangouts, but do they count as hangouts?
Think about the common areas on campus. Almost all of them are task-oriented — they expect you to be doing something.
Dorm Basements
Versatile, but usually unstaffed, dark, and not inviting. They're a backup, not a real destination.
Feels like a backupClimbing Wall
Fun — but it's a sport. You change, you exert, you shower. It's not where you go to just chill out.
Requires activityGym
Health-focused and loud. Perfect for workouts, awkward for conversation and connection.
Requires activityLibrary (quiet floors)
The gold standard of focus. Leaving a study floor mid-sentence to chat feels like breaking a social rule.
Silence expectedPeet's Coffee Shop ★ closest we've got
The best candidate on campus — people actually gather here. But it's tied to buying a drink, it's a pass-through for the helpdesk and stairs, and the "library" still hovers over it.
Almost a third placeSo... is that enough?
Not quite. Every space above asks you to do something — eat, climb, lift, study, or buy a coffee. Even our best hangout (the coffee shop) links your "right to stay" to your wallet. A true third place asks nothing of you except to show up — and that's the piece we're missing.
The Solution
We already have the space. We just stopped using it.
Campus used to run two dining halls — Knollcrest and Commons. When we consolidated into Commons alone, the big, single-floor Knollcrest building went quiet. That empty building isn't a problem. It's the answer.
🏗️ The pitch: give Knollcrest a new reason to exist
Right now our only true third-place candidate is Peet's on the library's ground floor — and even it asks you to buy a drink to stay a while. Knollcrest gives us a huge, single-floor canvas to build something that asks nothing in return. Here's what could live in that empty building:
Bowling Alley & Arcade
The classic third place. Open late, social by design, and brings students together across majors and years for no reason other than fun.
Low-stakes, socialFree Student Lounge
Couches, warm lighting, board games, no register at the door. A place to rest that never asks you to spend a dollar.
No purchase neededGame Lounge
Esports and console setups for drop-in play, plus tournament nights and a cozy corner for watching together.
Gaming communityLate-Night Café
A second anchor alongside Peet's — but open into the evening so night-owl workers and studiers have somewhere of their own.
Extends hoursMakers & Performance Space
Open-mic stages, art nights, club rooms, and a creative corner so student energy isn't limited to the gym or library.
Student-ledOpen-Air Commons Lounge ★ top pick
A reimagined hangout underneath one roof: lounge seating, a game area, a coffee corner, and greenery — all free to enter.
Third place, rebuilt🎯 The bottom line
We don't have to build from scratch or fight for new square footage — the building already exists. The question isn't "do we build a third place?" It's "what should the empty Knollcrest building become?" Repurposing it into a true hangout would hand the whole campus something no dining hall, gym, or even Peet's can offer: a place to just be.
Learn More
Resources & references
A small collection of readings to dig into third places and campus community.
- The "Third Place" concept — Wikipedia Ray Oldenburg's foundational idea: the spaces between home and work where community lives.
- Campus sense of belonging & retention Research connecting students' feeling of belonging to whether they stay enrolled.
- Higher ed should bring back "third places" Inside Higher Ed on why informal campus gathering spots are good for wellbeing.
- Third places help build community — Urban Institute How neutral, low-cost gathering spaces strengthen neighborhoods and social ties.
Join the advocacy
What does your campus need?
Take 60 seconds to share your thoughts. Your answers help build the case.