As the Kellogg School of Management lays claim to a new site east of the Henry Crown Sports Pavilion and Aquatics Center, as The Daily reported last week, now is the time to start thinking about the future of the Jacobs Center. Kellogg’s current home on Sheridan Road is in prized central territory between North and South campuses – prime real estate for student resources.

The Jacobs Center has the potential to serve students in a way Norris inevitably falls short. Jacobs won’t be a new student center for undergraduates, but maybe appropriating it for student use is the next best thing.

“We’ve got Jacobs: centrally located, a beautiful atrium,” University President Morton O. Schapiro told The Daily on Friday. “Wouldn’t that be nice? You know, among other things, collect the social sciences that are all over the place and make it a new student center.”

Building off Schapiro’s suggestions, the possibilities for the space are endless. The enormous space that will become available when Kellogg moves is ideal for a “new Norris” and more: student group offices, extra rehearsal rooms for performers or another venue for student activities. Jacobs is already put to great use as a hangout spot and study area for business school students; opening up those rooms to undergraduates would be as easy as taking down those foreboding “Kellogg Students Only” signs. Computers, printers and copy machines could add convenience for students. The ground-level atrium, currently home to Kellogg’s cafeteria and the best coffee cart on campus, could be converted into a dining location for undergraduates, adding to the variety of dining options available on campus.

Let’s use Jacobs as the place we wish Norris could be. Jacobs has the space; it’s relatively new; and it’s beautifully designed. Building a new University center doesn’t make sense when it’s cheaper to make Jacobs the new central point on campus for students.

Concentrating social sciences offices in the upper levels of the Jacobs Center could also foster Northwestern’s academic student life. Many departments are housed in small buildings on streets like Chicago and Hinman avenues, where it’s easy to fall into academic isolation. Jacobs could be put to use as a center where social sciences like Anthropology and Sociology could come together in academic harmony, enhancing cross-departmental collaboration among students as well as faculty.

In its development of the University Strategic Plan, the administration has emphasized the importance of receiving student input. How to best utilize the Jacobs Center’s resources is an issue that could benefit from our ideas. With all the incessant complaints about the inconvenient location and utility of Norris, this is our chance to have student voices heard.

We should also consider the advantages of Kellogg’s new building on North Campus. While it will likely be used exclusively as a Kellogg building, there may be a spillover effect. The signature NU structures will draw in Chicago. With this new building as well as the new music building planned for South Campus, NU will have two lakefront landmarks as it expands its image as a world-class institution.