Measuring the Pulse of MCV Campus

Yesterday and Today

Students enrolled in the Virginia Commonwealth University’s Medical College endure grueling 24-7 schedules. One place these medical students often find relief is the Hunton Student Center on VCU’s MCV campus.

Located at 1110 East Broad St., the center provides students a place to relax and study. On a recent visit, the center buzzed with the light conversation of a few students huddled in study groups, or chatter from a few flat-screen televisions. Yet, the center was quiet compared to the hustle and bustle that envelops the busy medical campus just outside the center’s doors.

Aaron Schatz, a first-year physiology student, was visiting the center to get in some class work.

"I spend at least 20 hours a week in here," Schatz said. "The chairs are really comfortable and there is a good amount of background noise. The library is too quiet for me."

Since reopening in January 2007, Hunton has provided students with Student Government Association offices, private study rooms, dining facilities, a coffee shop and recreation space.

Erected in 1841, the building once housed the First Baptist Church, which was established in 1780. The church was noted for its missionary work that included a women’s missionary society that sent the first foreign missionaries to Africa.

Until the church moved into what is now the Hunton Center, the building served a racially integrated congregation. When the church finally moved into the facility, its African American members remained at the original First Baptist Church at Broad and College streets (now VCU’s Randolph-Minor Hall).

Despite the renovations and efforts to make Hunton appeal to all students, some rarely patronize the center. Natasha Kapoor, a third-year dentistry student, doesn’t spend as much time at Hunton as she once did.

"When it first opened, I was a first-year student and I studied here a lot because there weren’t as many people here, but now it is too social," said Kapoor. However, she has not completely abandoned Hunton.

"I still come here to eat," she said. "It’s such a nice cute little place. (Plus) I like the architecture."

David Estavez, a first-year physiology student, also enjoys Hunton, where he studies, eats lunch and, when he can, relaxes.

"It’s not too hard to get a study room, there are three on each side," Estavez said. "You can always tell when a test is about to happen because the rooms are full. But during the day and on the weekends it is not hard to find study space."

While some students take advantage of Hunton’s academic amenities, others such as Fawzia Bhavnagri, a third-year dentistry student, uses Hunton to help relieve stress.

"Hunton is very relaxed, she said. "It’s nice to get out of the school and take a break to a different place."

For a list of daily events at Hunton visit http://www.usca.vcu.edu/hunton/.

The following articles - written by VCU Journalism Students - examine the medical school's legacy, student life, programs, buildings and future. All students are from Professor Bonnie Newman Davis' MASC 303 Newswriting Course. Loren Pritchett assisted in editing the articles.