The Free xChange, the college’s sustainable clothing drive, is currently located in the old mail room on the bottom floor of the Holland Union Building (HUB). However, it’s being forced to move due to renovations in the HUB, after being relocated just last year.
Since its founding in 2017, the Free xChange has been moved five times. Its most recent move was in the summer of 2023, which moved it to the old mail room in the HUB. This area is ideal accordiong to Lindsey Lyons, director of sustainability learning at the Center for Sustainable Education (CSE), who maintained that the Free xChange “needs a 24/7 accessible… high traffic area.” The Free xChange’s current location is also a prime spot for visiting tour groups, located right outside the spiral staircase and bookstore, which is beneficial to promote campus sustainability to prospective students.
The Free xChange’s future has come under threat recently with the HUB renovations planning to replace that space with a conference room.
In an open Student Senate meeting on October 8, David Walker, vice president of finance and administration, presented the plans for the HUB renovations and its timeline until 2026. At this event, he addressed student concerns about the relocation of the Free xChange, which was only offhandedly mentioned in the presentation.
Walker said that there still is a place for the Free xChange, even saying that the “location will improve.” He went on to explain that there are no concrete plans for the Free xChange as of yet, but it will stay in the HUB, possibly being moved into a renovated part of the microroom, which is down a hallway connecting to the current space.
Lyons says that the CSE was not consulted during the creation of the HUB renovation plans, with the CSE only hearing about the move in April. For Lyons, it is essential for the Free xChange to stay in the HUB. In a 2024 anonymous survey sent out by CSE, 100% of the respondents wanted the xChange to stay in the HUB, with 96% of the respondents claiming they utilized the xChange during the 2023-2024 school year. Between September 1, 2024, and November 6, 2024, 300 people have checked in at the Free xChange while using it, with Lyons saying, “Many visitors shared they do not check in, so the 300 is a major underestimate.” To her and other staff, the central location is critical to its success.
Lyons went on to comment that, in her experience with the xChange, “everybody loves it.” This sentiment is reflected in more anonymous responses to the 2024 survey, with one student commenting, “I believe many [foreign exchange students] benefit from the Free xChange so I’m asking Dickinson not to remove it in their renovation plan.”
“This is a critical resource for many students, including LGBTQ+ students who might want to try on other kinds of clothes, students with minimal resources who find themselves in need of additional items and international students or those who fly to arrive at Dickinson who may realize they need a warmer layer sooner than anticipated,” said another staff member who responded to the survey.
Currently, the Free xChange has to be moved out by December 23 to allow renovations to commence. Lyons and her team still have not been informed of their new location, with Vice President George Stroud saying, “there will be a space for [the xChange] … [but we] are currently working on figuring out where.” He resassures Dickinsonians that it will be in the HUB.
