Where do we belong?
By June, the Torch offices will have moved twice in three years.
We moved initially from a dingy and cramped space in the basement of the old Rankin Center to more spacious but less visible digs in the back of the Rec. Center.
In June, I’ll no longer be a Torch employee. My three years are up at the Torch, and there is still much on my plate in terms of wrapping up and transitioning to a new regime.
I’ve toured potential spaces where the Torch could end up. All have potential to be appropriate future spaces, and I’d be happy to work in them as well.
What begins to happen over this time and these circumstances is the formation of the question “Where does the Torch belong?”
It’s a tricky question, and one Torch adviser Steve Fox and I have mulled over constantly, as well as the rest of staff.
Initially, a space in the Starr Building was proposed, which died before it had a chance to be explored when administrators realized the space was already in use.
The Torch is not an academic entity, being on the third floor of an academic building didn’t make a whole lot of sense.
An outside pipe dream of many staffers was to work in the brand new University Center, where many other student organizations have already fallen under.
As much as I personally would love to see the Torch in gorgeous office in the heart of campus, it doesn’t make sense either. We report on student organizations. To appropriately do so, we should be removed enough so that we are not influenced by them, but close enough so that we can keep an eye on them.
There aren’t many spots on campus where that fits the bill. Currently, the Torch is touring spaces in the Alumni Building.
Both spaces present positives and negatives, as all spaces will. More than anything, the Torch needs an appropriate and permanent home. It needs somewhere that suits the returning staff. The decision needs to create a long-term home for the Torch in a place that the Torch is comfortable.