For years, Gordon Commons has provided a reliable space for UWMBDA dances and other social dance events. It has been a reliable and dance friendly space in the heart of campus and UW Housing. It has provided a great venue for students looking for safe, fun, and alcohol-free events to attend and been a reliable source for dancers to learn new dance styles and meet new people. Currently, there are no plans for Gordon Commons' replacement—the Gordon Dining and Event Center—to have a large, non-carpeted space suitable for dancing. Not including such a space would guarantee that UWMBDA dances, which are large, alcohol-free events, could no longer be available to Housing. Furthermore, it would limit opportunities and events for students and stifle the growth of the UW-Madison dance community by pushing them further off of campus. Students in dance classes who need to attend social dances for credit would be pushed off campus or find fewer ways to satisfy their course requirements. In addition, the number of dance groups has grown greatly and put a premium on space in Memorial Union, Union South, and the Student Activity Center. Including a dance-able space in Gordon Dining and Event Center would offer space for lessons, social dances and other events for a wide variety of groups. For students looking for opportunities and events, and for the continued growth of the dance community at UW-Madison, we, the undersigned, petition University Housing to provide a large, non-carpeted, dance-able space in the new Gordon Dining and Event Center.

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