The Student Assembly unanimously passed a resolution yesterday calling for students to rally on the steps of Webster Hall tonight to try to keep it as social space.
In her first meeting as Assembly President, Rukmini Sichitiu '95 announced an informational campaign on Webster Hall's planned conversion into a special collections library will begin tonight with a gathering on the steps of Webster Hall at 11 p.m.
Supporters will then cover the campus with informational posters about the College's plans that urge students to blitz the Assembly with comments, Sichitiu said.
The resolution calls for "the College to find alternative housing for the library's Special Collections or to provide adequate funding to create a new programming space of comparable size and quality."
The resolution states that Webster Hall is the only facility suitable for crowds of 400 to 800 people and it is a centrally located, historically significant and alcohol-free social programming space.
Sichitiu said she was not surprised the resolution passed so easily. "I think it's an issue that has wide student support on the left and the right," she said.
"The administration is set on moving Special Collections to Webster Hall, but we can propose a new plan," she said. "We can ask for $10 million for a new auditorium that is of comparable quality and size to Webster Hall."
The Assembly plans to gauge student and faculty opinion on the future of Webster Hall after tonight's rally, Sichitiu said.
She said so far student support for this resolution has been "very strong once they realize what's going on."
Sichitiu said she is meeting with Provost Lee Bollinger on Friday to discuss Webster Hall's future.
Sichitiu said Dean of Student Life Holly Sateia told her if the Assembly can show student support for Webster Hall then "it could have an impact."
