As of Friday May 1st at 11:40 am, all 26 writing center employees received an email from their supervisor informing them of the unexpected decision of the Provost that the Writing Center (alongside all faculty offices contained in the space) was being displaced and downsized effective immediately. This information came without prior knowledge. Around an hour later, a large team of designers (up to 10 people) was deployed into the center to begin the redesign process, interrupting the day-to-day activities of the center.

The Writing Center operations are being displaced to the “Quiet Study” area behind Einstein Bros’. Whether the quiet study space will be displaced or terminated remains unclear. The relocation brings up major issues that render a free vital service for students inaccesible:

1. Visibility
The Writing Center’s relocation to a secluded location will undoubtedly impact the visibility of our services. While the added visibility of our website on the recent online dashboard redesign is appreciated, such a change would greatly reduce foot traffic to our location. Walk-in appointments are a primary service of ours, and increased difficulty in locating the center would put a major dent in our service output.

2. Traffic
Currently, within the Fall 2025-Spring 2026 academic year, the Writing Center has seen 3226 total visits, out of which 1616 are unique names. We are a major institution on campus, and as a result we can draw major crowds. However, in order to reach the current Quiet Study room, students are required to pass through Einstein Bros’ dining area, which is congested at all times of operation and already obstructs traffic. If the Writing Center were to be relocated there, the traffic would consist of: Einstein Bros’ customers, students seeking to use the bathroom, students looking for printers, students using elevators, students looking to access the University Learning Commons, and the University Writing Center’s clients.

3. Space Itself
The relocation would downsize the Writing Center to a space that is roughly half of its current capacity. The recent introduction of Writing Labs in collaboration with University professors for entire classrooms hosted within the Writing Center are seeing a rapidly growing demand, which makes downsizing nonsensical. The structure of the quiet study space aligns with the name itself, it is a secluded, largely window-less squared surface that promotes an isolated, independent and silent environment. All adjectives which are contrary to the Writing Center’s core collaborative, lively and community-based activities.

For some examples:

4. Confusion with ULC
The relocation is also likely to cause confusion due to its proximity to the University Learning Commons. The physical separation of the UWC and the ULC is vital to maintaining a distinction between the drastically different services offered by the centers and the relocation is likely to erase the distinct identities of both.

Numbers:

total visits in the 2025-2026 academic year: 3226
total unique individual visits in the 2025-2026 academic year: 1616
number of events hosted in the 2025-2026 academic year: nearly 30 writing events (including writing labs, poetry labs, club meetings), list attached:

Unique events this semester (no events are repeated, several days had multiple events on them):

Feb 9th Writing Lab
Feb 10th Writing Lab
Feb 19th Pre-Law Workshop
Feb 20th Food for Thought
Feb 26th Book Club
March 9 Writing Lab
March 10th Writing Lab
March 17 Writing Lab (1)
March 17 Writing Lab (2)
March 19 Poetry in Progress
March 23 Writing Lab (1)
March 23 Writing Lab (2)
March 24 Writing Lab (1)
March 24 Writing Lab (2)
March 26 Book Club
March 27 Writing Lab
March 30 Club Writing Lab
April 9 Writing Lab (1)
April 9 Writing Lab (2)
April 10 Writing Lab (1)
April 10 Writing Lab (2)
April 14 Writing Lab (1)
April 14 Writing Lab (2)
April 18 Poetry Retreat with Campus Ministry
April 24 Writing Lab
April 27 Writing Lab
April 30 Writing Lab

This list doesn't include our upcoming May 4th Poetry in Progress, or the numerous events held in our space that our consultants don't work at, and it should be noted that there are a number of upcoming Fall 2026 classes that have already confirmed an on-going collaboration with the Writing Center.

The space that the UWC would be vacating is set for a complete redesign effective immediately, the funding of which can only be assumed is coming out of University funds (aka students’ tuition). It raises an eyebrow as to why monetary investment has been deemed necessary to both redesign a perfectly functioning safe-haven for students into an administrative sector, and to relocate it to a space that would require a lot of adjustments (and a secondary redesign). Why not locate this “new administrative sector” in the available Quiet Study lounge, thus only requiring the redesign of one space? Why involve the Writing Center? Why were we only informed of this decision on the Friday before Finals week? And most importantly, why is administration deemed to benefit from more visibility than a center that welcomes thousands of residents and commuters?

In the entryway of the Writing Center, painted clearly in big letters, stands the following quote from Louise Erdrich: “Here I am, where I ought to be. A writer must have a place where he or she feels this, a place to love and be irritated with.”

This quote will be painted over, both physically and metaphorically, if the displacement and downsizing of the University Writing Center is to occur. Nobody was asked before this decision was taken by the upper administration, nor was an official announcement made. It’s suspicious that we were only informed of this change only a few hours before closing for the weekend, on the Friday before Finals Week. The tacit nature of this significant change in the University’s structure caries with it the implication that student and faculty views on the matter are deemed irrelevant to the administration.

This is a forceful silencing that deserves attention.  Sign the petition now to help us show that the Writing Center is a space that matters to the students and faculty of our university.