The Arts Student Centre celebrated its official opening at a ceremony and reception on March 3, 2022.
“Today marks the beginning of a new chapter,” said AUS President Chelsea Bian in her speech. “The possibilities that this building opens up for Arts students are endless. Since we opened our doors, the Arts Student Centre has been a new spot for students to learn, socialize and network with each other… We have academic drop-in hours, mental health workshops and host all our fun AUS events in this building.”
Bian said she is heartened by all the friendships she has seen take shape in the Arts Student Centre since it opened its doors. “My journey as an Arts student honestly started off really lonely and confused. Considering how big our faculty was, I didn’t really know how to make campus feel like home. All my friends in different faculties would be able to hang out in their building and meet people and make connections easily, but Arts students didn’t really have that go-to hangout spot,” she said. “Being able to have a space to call our own makes me proud to be both an Arts student and the president of the AUS.”
The event featured a welcome by Mack Paul from the Musqueam Indian Band, and speeches by Associate Dean, Students, Laura Moss, Dean of Arts Gage Averill, UBC President Santa Ono, former AUS executive Avneet Johal (BA’13) and architect Michael Leckie (M Arch’03).
President Ono announced that he will be gifting a grand piano to the building and spoke about the Faculty’s impressive growth in recent years. “I firmly believe that the Arts and social sciences and the fine and performing Arts are at the core and the soul of what a university ought to be. It’s for that reason that it’s fantastic that the Faculty of Arts at UBC is an outlier in that it’s growing,” he said.
Santa Ono, Gage Averill and Laura Moss also acknowledged the generations of Arts students who supported the creation of the building with their advocacy and financial contributions. “We’re sitting here in the culmination of years of work,” said Laura Moss. “I am hopeful that in years to come, this building becomes the centre of Arts student community.”
Student services and programming available at the Arts Student Centre
- The Arts Peer Academic Coaches are upper-year students that will work with you to help you meet your academic goals. Drop-in or make an appointment to meet with a coach.
- The Compass: Arts Student Engagement Hub offers curated resources and student engagement and career events at the Arts Student Centre to help you make the most of your Arts degree.
- Meet with Carli Fink, the Arts Career Strategist for drop-in career advising every Wednesday. Drop-in sessions will be hosted virtually until further notice.
- Are you looking for resources and opportunities to get involved in Arts and at UBC? Drop by room 306 to meet with Paul Lee, the Arts Student Engagement Officer to learn more.
- The Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) hosts events throughout the academic year at the Arts Student Centre. Visit their Instagram to keep up-to-date on upcoming events.
