Theresa Dunne
Features Editor
Over the past couple weeks, students, faculty and staff members have been taking time out of their hurried meals in the Lowry Dining Hall to participate in a campus-wide vote that will help Campus Dining Services decide which chairs will replace our beloved maroon beauties later this year. The voting process involves sitting in each of the seven sample chairs surrounding the designated survey table in Lowry and then filling out a comment sheet, rating each chair by level of comfort and design.
Purchased in 1992, the current chairs in Lowry Dining Hall are 24 years old and in need of some upkeep. In recent months, Lowry Dining Hall has taken over 30 chairs out of service due to their poor existing conditions.
“When you sit down in the dining hall, it will be difficult for you to find one chair at your table that doesn’t have a split in the fabric, a chunk out of the padding or some other cosmetic or structural problem,” said Marjorie Shamp, the College’s director of campus dining and conference services.
According to Shamp, the opinions gathered from the survey will greatly influence the decision on which chair design to purchase for the upcoming semester. “The survey table was a huge success and we received many comments about how happy students are to be involved in the selection process,” said Shamp.
To choose the sample chairs, Campus Dining looked for a few key factors to decide which chairs to bring to a campus-wide vote, including physical manageability, ease of cleaning, durability and how well the chairs stacked and stored. Additionally, because Lowry Dining Hall also functions as a space for large student events throughout the year and hosts weddings and corporate banquets during academic breaks, the new chairs must be stylistically able to transition from their daily function as cafeteria seating to a more formal occasion.
Campus Dining will reveal the selected design prior to the end of exam week and hopes to have the chairs installed before the start of the upcoming academic year.