Georgia State University, an enterprising urban public research university, is a national leader in graduating students from widely diverse backgrounds.The student body of more than 53,000 demonstrates that students from all backgrounds can achieve at high rates with unsurpassed connections to the city’s business, government, nonprofit and cultural organizations.Georgia State is among the most diverse universities in the nation. It has a university-wide commitment to student advising with a keen focus on students’ progress to graduation.The university has cultivated the ability to detect early when students face obstacles affecting their studies. As a result, Georgia State has achieved national acclaim as a leader in creating innovative approaches that get students back on track and successfully headed to graduation.Even though Georgia State University is filled with different types of people with different religions, nationalities and backgrounds.
In 1950’s GSU’s “QUAD” became the Library Plaza. Originally it was the gymnasium/ auditorium on Courtland Street/Collins Avenue in May of 1951,located in the area between Sparks Hall and Pullen Library North. According to Taylor, a Georgia state student researcher, “The Georgia state university plaza divides students into groups and separates them from the GSU theme of an inclusive campus. The plaza space is divided by stairs,ramps, and sections blocked of by concrete. On an average day you can find most people who smoke sit together in a self designated smoking area,and on the other side students who aren’t very social sit spaced out alone.”
The GSU QUAD was designed in 1985 for as an area for students to use for a studying and to connect with social groups to enhance educational studying purposes. The QUAD discourages unity in numerous of ways such as first how its design it divide throughout the plaza with stairs ramps and concrete walls and even a water fountain. The QUAD discourages unity as well as community because the students that attend GSU use the plaza for walking to class and from classes and not so much for educational enhancements.
According to Molin, a Georgia State researcher, also defined the QUAD is a discourage to the university “In addition, there are no benches provided for students and the seating on the wall is liner and narrow. There is no space facing, discouraging face-to-face communication. Lastly, the walls reach high, requiring one to jump up onto them instead of easily resting. There is effort,an obstacle, in order to rest after class. These factors seem almost insane as this campus is meant to encourage unity and community, but does not give these opportunities due to these barriers of communication.”
I also feel the same as Molin and Taylor my fellow Georgia State classmates/researchers the GSU quad is a beautiful diverse campus that has different sub groups and social areas.There are different sections that separate those who smoke and those who do not. There are individual people across the plaza that sits along on the side of the concrete wall on their laptops.
Other quads encourages unity and community in many was such as Clark Atlanta University is a HBCU and GSU is a university that has students that have different backgrounds and nationalities that attend GSU verses some students at Clark Atlanta University may just have different backgrounds but not nationality. Clark Atlanta courtyard is designed with a brick concrete ground and a wide open space no stairs no concrete walls nor do they have a water fountain in the middle of the courtyard.
The difference between GSU quad and Clark Atlanta University, Spelman University, and Morehouse university quad were not built in as much thought as GSU. The other university are HBCU so the student quad do not have to be section off or made with as many turns and different social section groups sections because HBCU colleges are with African American people with the same backgrounds and it is easier for them to connect together without being in a smoking sections. The quad can change and affect of one behavior because of the built environment of how it is made. GSU quad has sections and social groups made in the quad based of its built designed with the smoke sections and the concrete walls that GSU students use to work on class assignments.
How does a built environment discourage behavior in the Gsu quad.? According to Taylor A Georgia State research student also feels that the gsu quad discourages unity