Throughout the first 120 years of the college, students founded organizations and sought forms of entertainment. In the 1850s the literary societies were able to contruct buildings for their meetings and activities. The YMCA building, completed in 1891, and the Alumni Gymnasium constructed in 1916 also provided space for recreation. But it was not until 1952, that the College hired a College Union Director and renovated the Alumni Gymnasium into a student social center. The building, newly renamed the Ovens College Union, contained a cafeteria and dining room, student store, game rooms, and rooms for student organizations. The first director, C. Shaw Smith was a Davidson graduate, class of 1939. He quickly made the Union an active center of student life and was influential in the development of student unions on campus across the nation. The Union was expanded and renovated in 1963. With the selection of a new site for the college library in the 1970s, the Union was moved from Ovens to the Grey Library building in 1974. The Director of the College Union is responsible for generating programs, working with the College Union Board and Davidson Outdoors, and managing facilities (College Union, Union Outpost, Johnson Gym, Erwin Lodge - and some uses of Love Auditorium, Chambers Gallery, Eu and Phi Halls). In addition, the office handles the responsibilities of the Director of Student Activities including advising student organizations on funding and event planning, working with the Activities Tax Council and monitoring use of student organization funds.