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Photographer: Kate Silber

Dining Center Stage, Considered a “Safety Hazard,” Is Removed

Once a very popular seating location in the Dining Center, the east wing’s stage has been table-and-chairless since the end of September.

The Students’ Council (SC) Co-Presidents sent a dinnertime email on Sept. 28  to announce this change to all students on behalf of Tina Le’ 19, SC Officer of Campus Life, and Claire Cai ‘21, SC Officer of Athletics. The email explained that the stage “poses a safety hazard and is also an obstacle to the DC staff’s ability to maximize the usage of the East Wing.” They added that Cai and Le intend to “re-purpose and re-imagine” the space’s use.

Cai and Le elaborated via email what the reuse of the space might look like. Although the stage appears to be a platform box atop the normal DC floor, they note that “the stage is so old that no one in Facilities or admin is sure what is under the stage, and what the removal and restoration of the flooring process would look like.” As of now, the stage has yet to be removed, perhaps because of these concerns.

“After the stage is removed and flooring is put down, we plan on setting the tables and chairs back up where the stage used to stand,” wrote Cai and Le.  In the meantime, they recognize that the reduction in tables and chairs has resulted in a seating shortage and thank students for their patience.

Following the email announcement from SC, students expressed confusion about the stage’s purpose and the challenges it poses to the DC. “What was the stage even for in the first place?” said Patrick Adams ‘19.

Cai and Le note that their collaboration on the stage project should not come as a surprise. “Collaboration between members holding different positions in SC is quite common, since the projects that we choose can be very extensive and time-consuming. Additionally, Student Council members are not limited to work on projects that fall only under their jurisdiction,” they wrote via email.

Cai continued by mentioning her interest in the project because of its importance in addressing the campus’ current needs.  She added: “The DC is a prominent location where power dynamics play out on this campus, and has undergone a lot of change in the past few years, and the stage project felt like a good way to continue the project of remaking the DC to suit our campus’s current needs.”

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