"Renewing the Stratton Student Center has galvanized alumni and friends who understand the transformational nature of the improvements, most importantly to offer students healthier eateries, well-being programming, and a welcoming place to study and socialize."

Suzy Nelson
Vice Chancellor and Dean for Student Life

Creating a campus where both academic excellence and personal well-being are valued and promoted is fundamental to MIT’s mission of advancing knowledge and educating students to serve the nation and the world.

A busy hub of student activity, the Stratton Student Center is the ideal place to promote student well-being. Thousands of MIT community members and guests visit the building daily to eat, to relax, to study, and to socialize. Since the Student Center opened in 1968, our community has grown and daily life has changed in many ways. As the needs of today’s students have evolved, so has the Student Center.

Recent upgrades to the Student Center, including strategic improvements to the infrastructure and new, welcoming spaces for campus activities, were conceived after gathering significant input from student working groups. Generous donors made the improvements possible.

On the ground floor, there is now banquette seating and more lounge space for students, creating a more welcoming, inviting area than the former storefront.
The opening of the new Concord Market, which provides fresh groceries and prepared foods for students, was a recent and much anticipated addition that had been eagerly awaited by the MIT community.
The Rafael Del Pino (1986) Wellbeing Lab serves as the anchor and heart of campus-wide well-being initiatives.
The fourth floor, already a vibrant home for many student-led organizations, now features flexible, multipurpose space for dance and movement activities, student group meetings, and social gatherings.