The annual Lunar New Year Festival performance will kick off Feb. 7 and 8, marking the group’s first set of shows since the loss of the Gargoyle rehearsal space.

Student groups strongly opposed the transition as they view the spaces as essential to their operations, after it was first announced to them March 7. Groups tried to convince the administration to reverse its decision, but after they learned it was final, they are now putting pressure on the administration to change the way it communicates with student groups.

Following the student body’s negative reaction to the news that the Gargoyle and Mallinckrodt 100A would no longer be available to student organizations after May, administrators said they plan to address the concerns of student groups that use those spaces.

For the last 27 years, KWUR has tried to reflect the diverse musical interests of the Wash. U. campus community.

Students weren’t part of the conversation to eliminate the Gargoyle and Mallinckrodt 100A. Students weren’t asked how this change would impact student groups. Students weren’t asked what accommodations would be needed to handle these changes. Students weren’t included whatsoever.

Washington University notified student groups the Gargoyle and Mallinckrodt 100A would no longer be available after Commencement 2019 in an email March 2.

While there might be a very real need for new office space, prioritizing it over a versatile open space for student groups without seeking student input is antithetical to what the University’s mission should be.

The final SU-approved budget for Social Programming Board includes a fall concert that will be held at the Pageant rather than the Gargoyle, a change intended to attract and accommodate more students while reducing cost per head. Though we commend SPB for taking steps to upgrade its historically underappreciated concert series, we at Student Life are skeptical as to whether this move to the Pageant is the best way to do so.

The Gargoyle is one of the most underappreciated spaces on campus, only used for the semesterly concerts put on by Social Programming Board. Other than that, the venue sits empty in the Mallinckrodt Center basement, save for a few WU-SLam or Kuumba events here and there and SPB’s Happy Hour. We at Student Life feel that this is a shame.

The crowd was starting to get edgy after over an hour of generic dance music from opener Hotel Garuda (a whisper in the crowd asked, “Has this all been one song?”), when suddenly the Gargoyle finally plunged into full darkness. Startled back into awareness, students cheered as Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” began to echo throughout the small space.