Student Center, OHSU

The Student Activities Building (now the Student Center) on OHSU's Marquam Hill campus opened for the 1960-61 academic year. Facilities in the newly opened building included a full-sized gymnasium capable of hosting athletic events as well as large gatherings, a flexible meeting and dance space, a game room, squash court and tennis courts. The Student Activities Building board included faculty and student members from the dental, nursing and medical schools. Later additions include a pool and a media room. The facility offers a variety of social activities and intramural sports such as basketball, volleyball and indoor soccer.

By the late 1950s, the university observed a need for a central campus hub for athletics, recreation and interest groups for the University of Oregon Medical and Dental Schools (now OHSU). Plans for a $350,000 building were submitted to the Oregon State Board of Higher Education in 1958. In a shared announcement regarding the plans, Dean David Baird of the Medical School and Dean Harold Noyes of the Dental School reminded, “students engaged in a professional education are subject to many pressures demanded by rigorous academic schedules. Now for the first time, a facility will be available where they may participate in and enjoy many types and kinds of recreational activities.” The building, designed by the architecture firm Burns, Bear, McNeil and Schneider, was completed in June 1960.

W. C. “Bud” Dockery was hired as the first director of the Student Activities Building in April 1960, and set to work ensuring a variety of athletic and leisure activities were supported for students on the Marquam Hill campus. The gymnasium hosted practices and games for basketball teams from the Medical and Dental Schools, as well as other intramural athletic activities.

Through the 1960s, the medical and dental schools maintained individual basketball teams, who competed in the City of Portland Metropolitan League along with teams from University of Portland, George Fox, Reed and Concordia College. Students from the medical and dental schools also joined forces on a varsity basketball team to compete against teams from other institutions. Intramural activities, including softball, basketball and golf, eclipsed alumni-sponsored athletics by the 1970s.

In addition to athletics and leisure activities, university events such as “welcome to campus” receptions and commencement ceremonies for individual schools were held in the facility in the decades following its construction. More recent amenities include a media room, the Food Resource Center, the Nucleus Lounge with rotating art displays, and computer and study rooms.

“Deans Announce Preliminary Plans for Medical-Dental Student Activities Building,” What's Going On? At the University of Oregon Medical School, October 1958: 9. Historical Collections & Archives, OHSU Library.

“Medical School Appoints New Faculty Members,” Oregonian (Portland, Oregon), April 27, 1960: 8. NewsBank: Access World News – Historical and Current.

"Physical Fitness is Fun for Students, Faculty in Athletic-Recreation Facility," What's Going On? At the University of Oregon Medical School, February 1963: 3. Historical Collections & Archives, OHSU Library.

Student Life at OHSU, 1900 to present. January 2019. Historical Collections & Archives, OHSU Library. https://www.ohsu.edu/historical-collections-archives/student-life-ohsu-1900-present.