It’s the first day of school. You are excited to see all of your friends after a long summer spent apart. Looking for people to catch up with and say hello to, you enter a campus hot spot where you know you’ll find a friend or two: the Gazebo. That’s when you notice something is off. Something is different from last year. Then you realize, not only is the Gazebo fully open, but the booths have been removed and in their place sit long rows of chairs and tables.
For students who did not attend Andrews University last year, the seating area directly in front of the Gazebo recently consisted mainly of booths available for students' use. This year, Andrews University has opted to forgo the booths, replacing them with more typical tables and chairs. The set-up gives the space a more open feeling and can seat a greater number of people, but offers less privacy for students who decide to spend time in the campus center.
Although at first glance the rearrangements may not seem to make much of a difference, many students have declared they do care about the changes. People’s feelings about the new set-up are quite varied. Upon first noticing the change at the beginning of the school year, I was slightly annoyed that the booths were gone because I enjoyed sitting in them. However, I quickly changed my preferences when I noticed the open feeling the new tables and chairs provide. Other students agree the new layout should be here to stay, either because of the extra space or because they found the Gazebo booths to be uncomfortable. Students also appreciate that the Gazebo is open for in-person retail this year. Last school year, the only people allowed to enter the Gazebo were workers hired by Dining Services. Everyone else used an app to select what items they wanted, which were then gathered by Gazebo employees and left on tables in a marked-off area just outside the double glass doors. Now that students can collect their own items, there is space for a larger seating area, which has led to more rearrangements.
On the other hand, there are a significant number of students who miss the booths and would like to see them make a reappearance. These students miss the privacy of the booths and considered them a comfortable place to study, enjoy a meal, or simply talk with friends.
Yet other students have no preference or explain they are able to see the pros and cons of both Gazebo arrangements. For example, Bianca Loss (sophomore, elementary education) claims she was surprised to see the new seating, but appreciates the extra space. However, she also states, “It doesn't provide any sense of privacy... Before, you could study in a booth or have a group conversation and feel like you had your own space; now, it's super loud in the room sometimes. It's definitely not a space I like studying in anymore.” Bianca continues by saying, “As far as no longer ordering online, it's definitely nice to walk into the Gazebo and walk around grabbing what you want. And let's be honest, the app wasn't always reliable. But I do miss when I had classes pretty close together and I could order at the end of one class, run over and have my food ready and run to the next. Now with the lines after some of my classes I have to calculate whether I have time to even get food, which is a problem.”She finished by stating there is “a lot of give and take” but good changes overall.
Overall, there are mixed reviews about the new design of the Gazebo’s seating area, but many students understand that while there are downsides, there are also perks to the new layout. One thing is for sure, as long as the Gazebo continues to provide the delicious food options we love, there will not be too much of an uproar.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.