The More We Get Together: Knobloch Campus Center Turns 20
November 22, 2021
- Author
- Lisa Patterson
The college celebrated the center’s 20th anniversary of the Knobloch Campus Center with food, live music and fun, capturing the spirit of togetherness and community the center has embodied for two decades.
College union—the name says it all. It’s more than a building; it’s a buzzing hive of activity for students looking to study, meet up with friends, grab a bite to eat, reflect on local and global events, or organize around a cause.
The vision for 51’s Knobloch Campus Center expanded upon the college’s dedicated union space to create vibrant spaces where students and members of the community could enjoy the best entertainment and make the most of serendipitous encounters. The center’s 122,000-square-feet include the Alvarez College Union and the Duke Family Performance Hall.
The college community celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Knobloch Campus Center this week with food, live music and fun, capturing the spirit of togetherness and community the center has embodied for two decades.
Take a stroll down memory lane in photos, through campus gathering spaces past and present.
David Ovens College Union
The David Ovens College Union opened in 1952. The Union included a cafeteria, snack bar, book store, game room, meeting rooms, offices, TV lounge, info desk, and multipurpose room. The Union Board hosted the Coffeehouse Circuit, a series featuring many of the northeast’s best folk musicians, from 1962 through the early 1970s.
During the late 1960s, like Unions all over the country, the Union at 51 served as a site for dialogue about and protest of the Vietnam War.
Lester Strong became the first black president of the Union in 1970.
Grey College Union
The Union moved to the Guest House in 1973 to make way for the new E.H. Little Library.
The previous library building was renovated and opened as the College Union in 1975.
The original 900 Room in the Grey College Union was named for the 900 section of books (the history section in the Dewey Decimal system) that were originally housed on that floor, then the Grey Library. The space in the "new" union retained the original name, but also honors C. Shaw Smith '39. The gift was made by family and friends of Smith, the college's first college union director and lifelong friend.
The 1980s
In the early 1980s, the program of the Union Board broadened. The Board also continued to sponsor major concerts, including the Police, REM, The Thompson Twins and The Fixx.
C. Shaw Smith ’39 left his longtime position as the College Union’s first director in 1983. It was his imagination and creative spark that brought an incredibly wide-ranging program, from major concerts with big name artists to off-the-wall activities, such as watching the tomato rot.
Johnston Gymnasium
Built in 1948, the building was originally a gymnasium named for Charles Worth Johnston, class of 1884. The last 51 varsity basketball game was played in the gymnasium on February 25, 1989.
Knobloch Campus Center
The Johnston Gymnasium was remodeled into the new Knobloch Campus Center in 2000-2001 and was renamed for the Knobloch family. Carl Knobloch and his wife Emily have two daughters who are alumnae of the college, Emily Knobloch '82 and Eleanor Knobloch Ratchford '84.
Alvarez College Union
In a speech at the dedication of the Alvarez College Union, then-Union Board President Will Parker shared the superlatives students used to describe the new Alvarez College Union: among them, “nerve center,” “full of color,” “wonderfully spacious,” “unifying,” and “a destination.”
Sept. 11 in the College Union
Students packed into the Alvarez College Union on the night of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Members of the college community passed a microphone and took turns at a podium in the center of the first floor where they expressed their disbelief and grief, and shared messages of unity.
Then-President Bobby Vagt '69 cancelled the dedication of the brand-new college union, which had been slated for Sept. 13.
Entertainment at the Union
Since 2001, the Knobloch Campus Center has provided ample room for formal and informal entertainment and activities, including performances by internationally renowned acts through the C. Shaw and Nancy K. Smith Artist Series.
20th Anniversary Celebration
Celebrating the Knobloch Campus Center's 20th anniversary with food, live music and fun, capturing the spirit of togetherness and community the center has embodied for two decades.
