The Aaronson Student Center offers new study areas, lounges and meeting rooms to connect and build community
November 30, 2021
Top left: Baruch President S. David Wu. Photos remaining: Students enjoying the Allen G. & Mary E. Aaronson Student Center on 24th Street, which is now open for undergraduates to study, socialize, or meet in small groups on campus.
Baruch College boasts the opening of its first permanent student center, marking another exciting expansion and renovation project for the campus community.
The Allen G. and Mary E. Aaronson Student Center – located in a previously raw and unfinished 5,500 square foot space within Madison Square Station, a historic post office building on East 24and Street – has been transformed into a dedicated space to connect and build community. The Center welcomes undergraduates with an open floor plan, large multipurpose space, lounge, and meeting rooms, all with high, airy ceilings and colorful furnishings.
“Aaronson Student Center promises to be a dynamic and energizing new space for students to socialize, study together, and build community,” said Baruch College President S. David Wu. the inspiring legacy of Allen Aaronson as a generous donor and champion of Baruch. We are proud to see his vision of a space dedicated to student activities come to fruition in this historic center bearing his name.
This new campus enhancement complements two major projects completed this year and inaugurated with ribbon-cutting ceremonies: the renovation of 17 Lex Phase 1a and the Clivner=Field Plaza on 25th Street.
In 2017, Baruch acquired the rights to the space on the lower level of the Post Office, signing a 15-year lease with an exclusive option to renew the lease for another 15 years. Students enter the space from the south side of 24th Street across from the Newman Vertical Campus (NVC) main entrance.
Donors and students partner with fundraising hub
The center is named after the late Allen G. Aaronson (’48) and his wife, Mary. Aaronson was among the College’s most generous benefactors, naming Allen G. Aaronson’s Department of Marketing and International Business; establishing the Aaronson Democracy Project; and in 2012, his Aaronson Challenge resulted in the most donors to the Baruch College Fund in its history.
The project was made possible by two sources of funding: in addition to the generous gift of Allen G. Aaronson, the majority of support is provided by an undergraduate building fund fee, originally offered by students at Baruch, then officially instituted by a 2010 CUNY. Board resolution.
A historic building
The three-story, 80,000-square-foot post office opened in 1937 and was created by Lorimer Rich, an American architect best known for designing the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. Its Dakota Mahogany granite main facade, along with an interior space featuring eight tempera-on-plaster murals titled “Scenes of New York” (1937-1939), earned the building a coveted spot on the National Register of Historic Places. in 1989.
Today, the Post Office at Madison Square Station remains a popular tourist destination, with visitors drawn to the Art Deco exterior and murals by Kindred McLeary, which were commissioned by the Treasury Department and depict scenes of daily life in Manhattan’s iconic neighborhoods.
More information about the centre: opening hours, how to reserve a space
The Center is currently open from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The Office of Student Life operates a reservation system through Navigate through which undergraduate students can reserve one of three 90-minute time slots. The center is closed between these slots for thorough cleaning.
New spaces around campus
The Aaronson Center is the latest student-centric space to be unveiled in the past year.
In January, the first phase of a landmark renovation of the Lawrence & Eris Field building at 17 Lex was completed, including a facade and lobby redesign and an all-new student lounge on the second floor.
In October, the Baruch community came together to celebrate the grand opening of Clivner=Field Plaza at East 25th Street, a much-needed open green space that helps define the College’s urban campus and serves as a hub for student life. .
In total, the College opened nearly 33,000 square feet of new space for student use in 2021.
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