The creation of more than 100 offices in Crowe Hall, a new wing of Kresge Centennial Hall, has launched Northwestern’s very own space race.
But with the consolidation of nearly every humanities department from the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, more space does not mean each department will get what it wants.
Weinberg Associate Dean Marvin Lofquist, who worked with the committee that determined the final location of departments in the revamped Kresge, said the committee could not please everyone.
“Obviously, space is a premium for everybody, and all the departments would like to have more space,” he said. “Somebody has to move … and we’re trying to consolidate the departments.”
The French and Italian departments will occupy offices on only one floor but will be split between Kresge and the new wing. Prof. Michal Ginsburg, the department chairwoman, said the arrangement is less than ideal.
“It’s not the perfect arrangement, obviously, but I think the idea was that all departments have some offices in the new part of the building,” she said.
Ginsburg said she is more concerned that the design of the new wing does not allow for windows to be opened, although she found out about it too late to protest.
“At the stage we became aware of that, it was pretty late in the game,” she said.
Lofquist said some departments, such as German and classics, were granted their requests to remain in their current location.
Other departments, such as philosophy and the writing program, will move from their converted houses along Hinman Avenue and Sheridan Road.
Although the philosophy department’s houses give it a unique identity, professors hope to be more accessible in their new space, said Prof. Richard Kraut.
“We love the houses that we occupy,” said Kraut, the department’s chairman. “They’re very comfortable and cozy and they have a very non-institutional feel. But, unfortunately, we don’t have the amount of space here that we need.”
He also said he hopes to have more room for books in his new office. Additionally, the department can have a lounge area where students will feel comfortable gathering.
The philosophy department will have a department office and seminar room on the first floor of Kresge and faculty offices on the second floor of Kresge and part of the Crowe wing.
The Spanish and Portuguese departments also will occupy space on two floors of the buildings. When the Crowe wing opens in the spring, Spanish faculty and lecturers will have offices on the ground floor, as well as a seminar room and offices on the first floor.
Currently, the Spanish department has a seminar room on the first floor of Kresge, department and lecturer offices on the second floor and faculty offices on the third floor.
Former department chairwoman Lucille Kerr lobbied against the placement of faculty offices on the ground floor of the Crowe wing, Lofquist and other Spanish professors said. Kerr is on leave this year and was unavailable for comment.
Christopher Herbert, interim Spanish department chairman and an English professor, said he was not aware of specific arguments against the department’s placement in the new wing. But he also said he understood how moving entire departments could create tension.
“Whenever there’s a move like this there always is a certain amount of friction built into it,” he said.
