{"id":160329,"date":"2025-02-28T12:28:22","date_gmt":"2025-02-28T17:28:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/?p=160329"},"modified":"2025-02-28T14:27:23","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T19:27:23","slug":"common-ground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/2025\/02\/28\/common-ground\/","title":{"rendered":"Common Ground"},"content":{"rendered":"

College\u2019s new community hub opens<\/strong><\/h2>\n

By Patrick L. Kennedy<\/strong><\/p>\n

After a long day of classes and lab work, scores of BU ENG students, along with faculty and staff, gathered to socialize, enjoy some pizza, and celebrate the grand opening of the Engineering Commons<\/a>, the college\u2019s new student-focused community hub.\u00a0 The fully renovated basement space is located at 44 Cummington Mall.<\/p>\n

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Students chat at the grand opening of the Engineering Commons. Photo by Zakariya Hussein
<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To a background soundtrack of hip-hop and dance music, students lounged in bean bag chairs or circulated throughout the room sharing fun facts about themselves and filling in boxes on an icebreaker bingo sheet. They won raffle prizes, made bracelets, snapped photos of each other wearing costume hats, checked out the displays from BU student chapters of the Society of Women Engineers and the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers, and met informally with Dean ad interim <\/em>Elise Morgan and other ENG administrators. Close to 100 people visited the Commons over the course of the evening.<\/p>\n

Building community<\/h3>\n

\u201cIt can be hard to build community in college,\u201d says Unity Jean-Louis, ENG\u2019s manager for diversity, equity, and inclusion. \u201cThis is a space where so many different people with different identities can be acknowledged and celebrated. It’s about supporting students holistically\u2014making sure they\u2019re supported academically, socially, and professionally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of students tell us they know about the University and College programs and support out there, but they\u2019re not always sure how to access them, or they feel a little hesitant to reach out or join,\u201d says ENG Assistant Dean for Outreach & Diversity Pamela Audeh. \u201cSometimes, there\u2019s a real barrier, and other times, it\u2019s just not knowing where to start. More often than not, it comes down to a sense of community\u2014having access, building trust, and gaining the confidence to take that next step.<\/p>\n

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Students representing BU’s chapter of the Society of Asian Scientists & Engineers. Photo by Zakariya Hussein<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s where the Engineering Commons comes in,\u201d Audeh continues. \u201cIt\u2019s not just a resource; it\u2019s a fun, welcoming space to meet new people, hang out with friends, get support, and be part of student-designed events that make the college experience even better.\u201d<\/p>\n

With tables, comfy chairs, and monitors with webinar capabilities, the room serves as a combination student lounge, study hall, and programming space. Along with \u201cMunchkin Mondays\u201d and \u201cCookies and Conversation,\u201d there are regular tutoring sessions, game nights, study abroad info sessions, and professional and career development workshops.<\/p>\n

Study and unwind<\/h3>\n

Nilly Rodriguez Suarez (ENG’27), a student desk assistant at the Commons, says that between classes and part-time jobs\u2014and sometimes shyness\u2014not every student makes it to faculty office hours for help. Now, they can seek answers from fellow students in a convenient, low-pressure setting. \u201cIf you don\u2019t understand something, you can come here after classes, and there\u2019s a great likelihood of someone knowing the material, because we\u2019re all in engineering and have core foundational information we all learn,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s also a place you can unwind, and everyone needs that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Highlights in the coming month include a vision board making event on Wednesday, March 5th, and a trivia night on Wednesday, March 26th.<\/p>\n

The Engineering Commons is located at 44 Cummington Mall, Room B14.<\/p>\n

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Left to right: Pamela Audeh, Elise Morgan, Unity Jean-Louis, Nilly Rodriguez Suarez, and Kelly Falc\u00f3n. Photo by Zakariya Hussein<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“It\u2019s a fun, welcoming space to meet new people, hang out with friends, get support, and be part of student-designed events that make the college experience even better.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2662,"featured_media":160332,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[236,1041,1000],"tags":[983,1004],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160329"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2662"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160329"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":160408,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160329\/revisions\/160408"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}