MIRANDA MARITATO | Staff Reporter
Butler’s Council on Presidential Affairs is working to update Butler’s Campus Club food court, potentially adding pool tables and new couches.
CPA surveyed students about their dining experience, mostly regarding C-Club, during finals week last semester.
“A lot of the feedback from the Flip the Script survey was improving the style of furniture, recreational equipment, and group space,” said Kate Carroll, vice president of administration of the Student Government Association.
By updating C-Club, CPA hopes to change the atmosphere of the space, Carroll said.
“We want to make it an extension of Starbucks so people feel like they can do the same sort of things down there,” Carroll said. “We are looking into lighting and adding metal paneling like what is in Atherton Marketplace so it doesn’t look like your grandmothers’ basement.”
Freshman Jacob Barnes eats in C-Club now, but said he would be likely to use C-Club more after renovations.
“Nicer seating would be a lot better for studying. I could see myself going there more,” Barnes said.
Sophomore CPA member Alyse Briggs is leading the project along with Carroll.
“I would really love to see it turn into a space that everyone feels welcomed to use for a variety of activities,” Briggs said. “The Dawg Den is really nice for group study sessions in between classes, but I feel that I’m not alone when I say we, as students, want to do more than just study and eat in our downtime—two things C-Club currently is used most for.”
A general complaint received by CPA from students is lack of soft space. This can mean individual study space, collaborative workspace or recreational space.
“The lobby of the HRC and residential halls all have some different recreational areas, but trying to find a unified space, C-Club seemed to be the best option,” Carroll said. “Some ideas that have been thrown out right now are a pool table or a ping pong table. We need to see if we can even get funding and see what we can do with moving furniture around.”
A general concern for the project is funding.
“Sometimes there’s budget at the end of the year. There’s a system set up throughout the university called the Capital Budgeting Plan,” Carroll said. “All sorts of different departments submit a wish list of things they would like to see done in facilities. A committee of people decides which one is most important based on the department’s justifications, so we put that on our list.”
Craig Hardee, director of planning, designing, and construction, and Caroline Huck-Watson, director of the PuLSE office, have also been assisting CPA with the project.
The PuLSE office works with all of the student organizations on campus.
Carroll said CPA’s relationship with the board of trustees is helpful during projects like this one.
“They do a really good job of listening to us and that’s the function of CPA—an organized way for them to get feedback and ideas like this and have someone to head it,” said Carroll.
It is too soon to announce when and if these updates will be carried out in the foreseeable future.
“I would personally love to see it by the time I graduate, a year and a half from now, but you really never know,” Carroll said. “It all comes down to funding.”
