Members of the Activist Resource Center are campaigning to turn a vacant space across from the Village Quad fitness center into a meeting place for student activist clubs. Students will be able to write in suggestions for the room in a poll during Wednesday's Student Union election. The debate gained gained steam after the Union opened an online forum to discuss how to use the space.

The space has been unoccupied since 2003 when the building was completed, Chief Operating Officer Peter French said. The space was left empty because the project budget could not cover its completion at the time.

ARC coordinator Josh Russell '06 said a lack of club space on campus has left over 19 political and activist clubs without a place to meet or store club materials. "This is a real need," he said.

While STAND coordinator Weldon Kennedy '06 stores STAND material in his car, Russell said he uses his own closet as storage space for the Radical Student Alliance.

Michelle Feldman '08, a campus activist said Democracy for America and the Radical Student Alliance meet in the Castle Commons because they have nowhere else to meet. "An activist center would alleviate some of that pressure, but it would also encourage cooperation between these groups," she said.

"[There's] a general need for a central location," said Jamie Ansorge '09, co-chairman of the Brandeis Social Justice committee, who is also the director of legislative affairs for the Brandeis Democrats and the campus coordinator for Democracy Matters. "ARC wanted to make that their focus and we support them 100 percent."

In addition to serving as a meeting place, the space could include a social justice library, materials on ongoing projects, a calendar of all activist events and contact information for club leaders, Ansorge said.

Russell said ARC has been without an office since moving to the Shapiro Campus Center when the building was completed in the fall of 2002.

ARC members have been circulating a petition among activist clubs to sign onto the effort, and once they see the results of Wednesday's poll, they plan to meet with administrators.

"We've been doing a lot of work trying to connect clubs, but we're sort of at an impasse until we have a physical space," Russell said.

Russell said the space is in line with activist principles, as it is both handicap accessible and has card access, making it an accessible space to all.

Sarah Blaker '07 agreed that activists need a central location, but said the Village space is more residential, and that perhaps Shapiro or Usdan would be better-suited to activist headquarters.

She said she would like to start a bakery- jokingly dubbed "the Blakery"-in the space, to be run and managed solely by students. She said the campus needs a space open when other dining locations are closed.

"On the surface, it sounds really good," Russell said, but noted that non-Aramark options do already exist nearby.

He added that an activist space and a student-run eatery are not mutually exclusive, adding that ARC has discussed opening a Fair Trade certified caf in the space.

French said that while the University originally considered putting a caf or convenience store in the space, the small size of the Brandeis community means that "there simply would not be enough foot traffic to support such a commercial venture."

Still, French said he was open to the idea of a late-night eatery.

Assistant Dean of Student Life Alwina Bennet said a new dining location might be unrealistic.

"I cannot imagine how much work it would be to coordinate [and] manage a food service operation in this space," Bennett said.

Director of Union Affairs Aaron Gaynor '07 said that any plans for the Village space are still in their early stages and that it would be premature for the Student Union to make an official declaration in favor of any proposal.

Gaynor said the Union's concern is that the space be utilized by as many students as possible. "We don't want its use to be too narrow," he said.

Some students said the space should be incorporated into the Village for living space.

"What this school really needs, in the sense that it can't continue to function well without it, [is] housing," Alan Meyerson '08 said.

He said the University should not "cave into special interests" by allocating the space to specific clubs or organizations.

Russell said the ARC has been meeting with administrators and hopes to have a space in Usdan by the end of the year as another possible solution.