My last petition sparked quite a bit of controversy. Therefore, I am going to make this one more factual. 

The UC is a place on campus that is meant to be for the students. Offices from the third floor are moving to the first, and the Western Carolinian (the newspaper on campus) is moving up to the third floor. On the second floor, there is space for clubs and organizations. We are unsure of the exact plans for the third floor, so we are not going to discuss that in this post. 

However, the number of students being admitted on campus grows every year. Western currently has over 11,000 students in total. This number is for the 2018-2019 school year, and the 2019-2020 school year has not been posted. Also, this number is for the students living on and off-campus. However, the students do not have the space to go between their classes. As a commuter, you have the commuter hang out area, but that is a small space for the number of commuters that there actually is on campus. As a student that lives on campus, you have the cafeteria, library, and the second floor of the UC to "hang out". Is it really enough space for all 11,000 of us? The number of student amenities on campus is staying the same, but the number of students being accepted is increasing every single year. The university is growing in the number of students, but the university is not growing physically to meet these demands.

This petition is to expand the University Center or even build a new Student Union. We, as students, need to have somewhere that we can go between classes to catch up on homework, study, grab a quick bite to eat, and/or hang out with friends. It is important for us to have a space that we feel as if we can call it ours. Our University Center. Our Student Union. We should not have to feel as if we are being crowded by offices and faculty. Yes, we can have offices in the UC and/or Student Union, but we need a space that is our own. 

Therefore, the University should expand the University Center to make it more welcoming and spacious for students to come between classes. There should be an area to get quick food (possibly a food/hot vending machine). There should be an area that students can come and finish up work before their next class. This is why this petition is being made. If you agree that students need more space and amenities, please sign and share!