The Student Government Association will vote tonight whether to support a resolution that would change Downing University Center’s name.

If passed, the resolution calls for DUC to be changed to Downing Student Union.

The resolution’s author, Campus Improvements Chairperson Keyana Boka, said this is a positive change. Since benchmark universities have “student unions” rather than “university centers,” Boka said it is important to name WKU’s building accordingly.

The new term will “show it’s for us,” Boka said of the student body.

The reason SGA is voting on this resolution is because the DUC renovation process has been “student initiated,” and the original resolution to support the renovation also came through SGA, Boka said.

“It’s been really interesting — it initially caused a lot of debate in my committee,” Boka said.

Boka said she expects there to be a debate during the vote tonight. People have told her they are going to speak up and voice their opinions.

Student Affairs Chairperson Natalie Broderick worked closely with Boka while drafting the resolution. Broderick said she fully supports the possible DUC name change. As the head of student affairs, Broderick said she felt it was essential to be part of this process.

“I’ve found it important to be involved in a controversial issue that so many students have chosen sides on,” Broderick said.

While many people are worried about tradition, many buildings have been changed and move along fine, Broderick said.

“It’s the final touch on renovating everything about DUC,” she said.

But not all SGA senators support the name change.

SGA senator Poorvie Patel said out of all the buildings on campus, DUC has the most name recognition and that DUC will already undergo so many changes.

“It just seems completely unnecessary to change the name,” Patel said.

As far as keeping up with other universities, Patel said she doesn’t think students will look at benchmark universities and not choose WKU simply because it doesn’t have a “student union.”

“We don’t have to conform to what other universities do to get students to come here,” she said.

Patel also said students should voice their opinions, whether they agree or disagree with the proposed DUC name change.