While crossing the quads and yards of campus to find a spot to study and lounge about with friends it’s becoming increasing hard even to find a seat to stop and catch my breath. This semester has had a lack of tables and benches on campus, with benches and tables often being gone from areas, occupied during peak hours, or cooked in the sun. Which of course begs the question, what happened to all the benches and tables on campus? 

I’m not alone in this sediment about benches and tables on campus as other students have felt like some areas having too little seating or are in direct sunlight that make it impossible to sit down in the California heat. 

“I feel like there’s too little in certain areas or a lot of them are placed in the sun, so not a lot of people are able to use them due to like the heat. Or some of them are kind of like damaged in certain ways like slanted or like other things,” said Marley Langi, a junior walking from class on the red brick road. 

Some students even stated that there is too much negative space around campus creating a liminal or transitional atmosphere instead of a welcoming area. Areas that students state need benches or tables and better shading from the elements are the Business Development Center, Kegley Center and Student Union. 

“I think maybe we could do more in front of the student union and around DH (Dining Hall) as well. There used to be tables outside there but. this semester, they took them out,” said Jaskarn Singh, a junior. 

However, not all hope is lost for those who need a rest. In an email from Kristine DeYoung, Associate Vice President of Capital and Facilities Management Services, she states that Ruby Gomez, Director of Student Involvement and Student Union Administration, ordered the removal of tables and chairs in front of the Student Union after deemed no longer safe due to broken chairs and wear and tear of the tables that made them unsafe for public use and Gomez states will be replaced possibly by spring. 

As well, Facilities Management and other organizations on campus do have future plans on bettering the landscape. DeYoung said that they are working with a group called the Landscaping Committee, a temporary committee from the Sustainability Committee, to come up with some new strategies on planting native plants on campus after some failed to survive on library hill. There are also plans to construct a  Energy Innovation building that will go between Science III and the Student Health Services that will have a shaded seating area to make more outdoor spaces for students to sit. 

However, for students who seek seating in other areas of the campus they would have to seek the director of those areas or committees to help raise funds. 

DeYoung states that funding they receive in facilities are to maintain the campus, specifically what the campus currently have, as there is just not enough funding to maintain the campus generally therefore, they need to prioritizes deferred maintenance and preventative maintenance when managing their funds over new installations. “So, it would really be up to someone coming with some money to say we have some money and we’d like to put some benches…Yeah, let’s work with those people. Let’s get that bench established,” said DeYoung. 

Although there may not be an immediate change or solution to this seating issue there is a possibility for change to enact depending on the actions of building directors and organizations that are willing to help fund to establish benches and tables on campus.