The lunch rush is the busiest time of day for the Northstar Café. Several students are sitting on the floor every day to eat lunch, due to lack of ample seating in the Sullivan Student Center. Within the past few years it has become more difficult to find space for all who eat at Northstar Café. The entire student center is packed.
“I have sat on the floor next to tables, I have sat on the steps of the fireplace and I have pulled extra chairs up to the garbage cans to eat,” said Abby Esty ’19. Typically, there are at least five students left without chairs who sit on the floor every day at lunch.
Because of the lack of space in the Student Center, people are forced to find creative ways to comfortably eat their food. “I have resorted to sitting on the pool table, it’s pretty sturdy,” said Anna Foster ’21. Even floor space is limited at times. “I’ve eaten on the floor in the back hallway behind the Winston Room,” said Will Merchant ’19.
In general, during the dinner rush, seating is full on the first floor, but available on the second and third floors. Whereas during the lunch rush, all three floors are typically completely full. “It’s survival of the fittest,” said Julia Wagner ‘20. She feels as though every time she enters the student center to eat lunch it is a battle to find tables.
Students have become more creative with ways to secure a seat during the lunch rush. “If I get here at 11 a.m., I can usually find a seat,” said Wagner. Another strategy to ensure seating is to reserve tables. “Sometimes I camp out in the morning and just leave my stuff at a table to reserve it,” said Jess Potter ’19.
The Winston Room, located on the first floor of the student center, provides a lot of seating for students. Sometimes the Winston Room is closed for other events during the day, which makes seating much more difficult to find because there is a much higher volume of students in a smaller space. Earlier in the semester there was a blood drive hosted in the Winston Room. On that particular day, students were eating in all sorts of odd places.
This problem has been occurring for years. Lindsay Howe ’18, struggled to find seating every day for lunch during her time at SLU. “I think they could add more tables to the Winston Room and maybe by the mail center,” said Howe. There is room in the student center for more seating, whether it be in the Winston Room or elsewhere. “We can and we should fit more tables. You shouldn’t have to have a strategy to find seating at lunch,” said Abby Esty.