As some business students look fondly at the construction of the new Goldring/Woldenberg Complex, other Tulane students look at the project and can only wonder if the academic buildings that house their departments will ever receive similar treatment.

One of the relatively newer buildings on campus, Goldring/Woldenberg has already seen several major improvements over the years. As Tulane’s campus continues to evolve, it is important that the school prioritizes construction and renovation projects that will benefit all students.

Tulane has not completely neglected other buildings. Any renovations made to these other buildings, however, have been minor. For example, Richardson Memorial Hall, home to the School of Architecture, has seen several impressive changes recently. Newcomb Hall has also seen some minor changes to make the inside of the building look newer and refurbished.

While it is nice that some old buildings on campus are seeing improvements, others seem to have been forgotten. Norman Mayer Memorial Building on the Gibson Quadrangle had its last major expansion in 1949 when a new section of the building was added. Since then, it has not seen any extravagant changes. Other buildings, such as Hebert Hall and Richardson Building, have also been neglected in recent years.

Continuing to maintain the buildings and keep the building standards up to code over time does not change how each is still plagued with creaky staircases, decrepit floors and old-fashioned bathrooms. Norman Mayer, along with several of the other aforementioned buildings, does not even have regulated air conditioning or heating throughout the building — the temperature in each room is different and unpredictable.

The school should start prioritizing projects for buildings that would be advantageous to all students. Building Yulman Stadium and updating the food court at Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life are good starts, but the next step should be to focus any funding for major renovations on buildings, like Newcomb, that many students regularly use. Students and administrators should be encouraging alumni from other schools to contribute to projects that will help other buildings evolve.

Fixing the infrastructure of other academic buildings on campus will ultimately make other students feel what they are studying matters. All students should feel the hard work they do is reflected by how their departments and the buildings in which they reside are treated. Perhaps not every building will receive the same treatment as Goldring/Woldenberg, but it is not too much to ask for buildings that do not look like they are on the brink of falling apart. At the very least, we should have academic buildings with regulated temperature.

This is an opinion article and does not reflect the views of The Tulane Hullabaloo. Daniel is a junior at Newcomb-Tulane College and can be reached at [email protected].