The College's Board of Trustees decided at its meeting last weekend to proceed with the planned renovation of Webster Hall but also asked the administration to look for replacement programming space.
Deputy Provost Bruce Pipes said "the administration is beginning to look at a number of solutions" to replace the function of Webster Hall.
"We are just in the process of looking at options," Pipes said.
He said the College administration hopes to find an alternative space to use instead of building a new structure.
Pipes said constructing a new programming space would be very expensive and would fall behind other priorities, like the construction of a new math building.
Student Assembly President Rukmini Sichitiu '95 said when the Trustees initially decided to convert Webster Hall into a special collections library, they had been told the building was not being used.
Sichitiu said the Trustees were surprised that the Assembly and the Coalition of Class Officers were able to show a need for a space similar to Webster Hall.
COCO distributed to the Trustees copies of its Webster Hall report, which concluded "the elimination of a medium-capacity programming space will severely limit the diversity of programming at Dartmouth."
Sichitiu also said so far more than 500 students have signed petitions and shown support for the student initiative.
"It is not realistic to not convert Webster Hall into a special collections library," said Sichitiu. "It is very important to make plans for the future instead of leaving students in the cold."
Pipes said the College has not yet set a date for the closing of Webster Hall because it has not raised all of the money needed for the renovations.
