Since 2008, the Center for Entrepreneurship has served as a home base for impact-driven students on campus. By providing academic programs at undergraduate and graduate levels, hosting events like annual trips to the Bay Area and fostering a vibrant community, CFE has jumpstarted a spirit of entrepreneurship on campus.
Initially based on North Campus, the Center for Entrepreneurship has now opened a new office on Central Campus on the first floor of the Shapiro Undergraduate Library.
As a CFE peer adviser and start-up co-founder, this is a particularly exciting development, one that signals that a growing number of students are looking to put their ideas into practice. It also demonstrates that libraries on campus are becoming more collaborative. They’re evolving from a place designed for individual learning to a place where people gather to generate new ideas. In my opinion, this paradigm shift away from the traditional concept of a silent library is positive. Who knows, maybe you’ll even meet the next co-founder of your company at your table.
While we all know the story of Mark Zuckerberg building Facebook in his dormitory room, entrepreneurs benefit from working in a dynamic environment where passionate, creative and diverse individuals can interact and engage. A presence on both North and Central Campus means that no matter what or where students are studying, they’re now just a few minutes away from a community of students and faculty who can provide invaluable start-up resources and advice.
Until recently, entrepreneurial activity was concentrated primarily in the engineering and business schools. In the last few years, incredible projects have emerged everywhere from LSA to the School of Information to the School of Natural Resources. I hope that a new campus-wide approach to entrepreneurship will encourage students to think about innovative solutions to problems in new disciplines as well.
The new space on Central Campus offers open space for student entrepreneurs and start-up teams to meet as well as academic and venture advising for students.
So, if you have an idea that you can’t stop thinking about or just want to learn about the academic programs offered through CFE, I encourage you to stop by. Whether you’re studying engineering, political science or anything in between, you can find a home base just a few minutes away. To celebrate the new CFE space at Shapiro, we’re hosting an open house on Wednesday, Jan. 30 at 1:30 p.m.
Daniel Hoffmann is an LSA junior.