SC students took a protest to the next level 44 years ago.
For 30 days in 1970, the Russell House was at the mercy of the students, as they trashed the building and turned it into a pub.
According to Jerry Brewer, director of student affairs, approximately 400 students seized the Russell House in outrage after four were killed in the shooting at Kent State University. More than 30 students were arrested for organizing the protest.
Russell House has served as a meeting place, a post office, a dining hall and large event venue since it opened in 1955. Named after former university president Donald S. Russell, the student union was built to serve as the central point of campus.
“How could you have a university without a student center?” Brewer said. “You couldn’t.”
The physical building has remained the same since its development, but the development of the building’s interior design has developed along with the student’s needs over the years, according to Brewer.
“Everything that we do in the Russell House is by design,” he said. “Things are influenced to provide positive influences, educational influences, and to provide that social recreational comfort zone.”
The 66,000-square-foot building once held a four-lane bowling alley and snack bar, as well as the dining room, campus store and meeting rooms and offices.
“Anything that the students advocate for, those ideas are all met and talked about,” Brewer said. “This is the center for all student initiatives.”
Today, the Russell House gives tour groups, families and new students a look into the life of today’s USC students.
Though there is no longer a four-lane bowling alley or pub, students pack the Grand Market Place and Gamecock Park to grab Chick-fil-A for lunch and Pandini’s for dinner. The floors are littered with tables where study groups meet to discuss assignments and projects. The theater and ballrooms host various shows and events throughout the year. The now-daily student newspaper staff puts together papers each night, and student DJs take to the air each day.
“This is the heart of the university,” Brewer said.