The Danna center upgrades have been a topic of conversation with all students so far in the semester, some think it’s good, others think it’s bad. Students have mixed feelings about the Danna center; they think the new version still needs improvement.
Chrya Lee, a junior criminology major, said, “I like the new upgrades; it’s bigger, but I feel like it’s still not enough space. Space is the main thing that people say separates the new from the old version of the Danna center.
There was more space for people to study and sit down without worries, but now, with the hallways smaller and limited sitting space, there aren’t a lot of options to sit or just hang out with friends in the Danna center.
“They don’t have as many study spaces in there, and I feel like they should definitely have more,” Chrya said. “Some students like the upgrades, but feel it lack the homey atmosphere. Summer, a Junior criminology major, says, “I miss the comfy and coziness of the old Orleans room. The lighting and the beanbag chairs made the dining hall seem very homey and made it comfortable to sit in.”
Some are not happy with the fact that they have to go and eat just to sit in the area to study or talk with friends. “I think after a certain time, the Orleans Room should be available to sit in without having to use a meal swipe”, Myana Smith a public relations major student, said.
The cons of the Danna center, in my opinion, are the lack of space. In the old version, there was space to walk in the hallway and have seating, but now there is no space for that. However, with construction still going on in the center, there can be a change in space.
The discards of hangout spots are another con because the multicultural room, Black Student Union Room, and Loyola University Community Action room, where students could go and do work or just destress, and now those are gone. I believe the new Danna center is not student-friendly anymore because of all the things the upgrades took away. However, the OR line and lines in general are a factor in how people see the upgrades to the Danna center.
The technology is the one thing that makes the improvements to the Danna center better with new self-service food ordering computers. With the lines being really long for both the Orleans Room and Grubhub ordering stations in the Danna center, people would say it’s chaos, or making the hallways cluttered with people. “I personally think that they should move where the GrubHub ordering stations are because when people are ordering, they’re clogging up the hallways,” Summer, a junior criminology major, said.
Accessibility is another problem with the new improvements, with getting rid of the automatic door on the side of the building to make space, it is not great for people with disabilities. “The ramp is steep with no coverage from rain over it, and the door isn’t accessible,” Kennedy Lewis, a sophomore, says. The accessibility, in my opinion, is not helpful to people with wheelchairs because most of the students here who are handicapped cannot open the door by themselves, so the automatic door was helpful for them to get in and out of the Danna center. Another con for disabled students is that they have to go around the Danna center more than normal to get to class, because the automatic door is gone.
With all the new improvements to the Danna center, there are many pros and cons, but there seem to be more cons because of the number of people, space, wait time, and design; people are not as happy now over the old version of the Danna center. The new version improves campus life by bringing new business to the University, but not through the homey feeling or comfort level for student life on campus for studying or community. The new Danna center has become more chaotic than calm because, for student life, the Danna center used to be the calm area from transition to classes.
