According to representatives from Northwestern’s dance and athletic departments, the Department of Athletics and Recreation plans to convert a dance studio in Patten Gym into a locker room for the women’s lacrosse team.
The studio, known as the “blue room,” is one of the few dance spaces on campus available for student dance groups that are not affiliated with the dance department, according to students. Although the department has its own studios in the Theatre and Interpretation Center, they are not available for other student groups to use.
Nancy Tierney, director of fitness and wellness for the athletic department, said she understood the decision.
“We had to be supportive because we’re all one big happy family,” Tierney said. “I respect that after winning six national championships, the varsity lacrosse team is wanting a nicer locker room space and you have to give them credit for what they’ve earned.”
Tierney said her primary concern after learning of the decision was finding a space for yoga and pilates classes that were taught in the “blue room.”
Scott Hammer, the assistant director of athletic communications in charge of the lacrosse team, said he knew the team would be getting a new locker room but was unaware of the previous uses for the space and the specific location.
But Weinberg junior Sue Chuang, the president of Deeva Dance Troupe, said she was frustrated by the decision.
“There are over 20 dance teams on campus that need mirror and dance space and as a result, there are many conflicts with other dance teams,” Chuang said. “How are dance teams expected to cultivate our passions if we aren’t even given the space to do so?”
One dance professor, who spoke on condition of anonymity, criticized the decision in an email to The Daily, writing that the mirrored walls and sprung floors are critical aspects of dance spaces.
“No other facility on campus can absorb the impact this will have,” the professor wrote. “The entire dance department only houses two studios, and right now there’s no reason to believe the new music building will house any dance space. Norris also cannot convert any space into a dance studio.”
The professor has contacted the directors of Patten and Norris University Center about the issue, the professor wrote.
Other dance faculty declined to comment.
Weinberg senior Farah Dahya, who is also in Deeva, said the group has already been forced by the limited availability of the “blue room” to find alternative practice locations.
“We’ve resorted to practicing in Tech lobby, in obscure corners of Norris and even in apartment buildings,” Dahya said.
Chuang said prior to the decision, students had requested more dance spaces on campus.
“If the lacrosse team needs locker space, it should not come at the expense of dance groups,” Chuang said. “That is an absolutely selfish and abominable decision on the athletic department.”
Tierney echoed the call for more dance and fitness spaces on campus.
“We need new facilities, we need expanded facilities, we need spaces for not just fitness groups but all groups that are feeling crunched for space,” she said.
