Sonoma State Opens New Student Center

Sonoma State University celebrated the opening of its new Student Center on Wednesday afternoon.

After speeches by SSU president Ruben Arminana and Associated Students president Mac Hart, attendees toured the 130,000-square-foot building.

The Student Center includes a 4,000-square-foot lounge area with open ceilings, a fireplace, state-of-the art conferences spaces, expanded dining options and a 12,000-square-foot ballroom.

The Student Center is designed to be a central location for social, recreational and cultural life at the university. 

Executive Chef Eric Lee, who worked at Healdsburg's Simi Winery for 11 years, has been employing his creativity at SSU toward campus dining over the past six months.

The Chef's Demonstration Kitchen introduces daily lessons in food preparation, and overhead cameras zoom in on the action as students learn to cook for themselves.

The $62 million Student Center was financed by a partnership among University Housing, Sonoma State Enterprises, Associated Students, the Student Union Corporation and a $150 per-semester student fee approved by a student vote in 2011.

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