I was visiting the student union on campus yesterday, and it got me wondering: how did the word “union” come to apply to the campus activity center?
Before colleges hit on the “great” idea of charging a mandatory Student Activity Fee to subsidize extracurricular activities whether you wish to participate or not, there were actual Student Unions to which students belonged, for social and other benefits. Student Unions (=buildings) were the structures built to house the Student Unions (=organizations) and the events they sponsored. When they became elements of the college infrastructure, the name stuck.