News

The Student Union (SU) hosted a waffle party in the SU office on Thursday, March 6, to celebrate the purchase of new couches and to raise awareness for the Stuyspace campaign. Free waffles and drinks were distributed to attendees and students waiting in line to purchase SING! tickets.

The SU added the two new pillow couches to make the office, which it shares with The Spectator, ARISTA, and The Big Sibs, more hospitable. The old couches were relocated to the first floor student lounge.

According to SU president Jamila Ma, many students did not know of Stuyspace—a movement encouraging students to properly maintain the building. The SU made a Parents’ Association announcement about Stuyspace on Tuesday, March 4, “but those don’t usually work well,” she said. “[The waffle party] will get people involved and aware.”

However, due to overcrowding and high noise levels, the SU did not get their message across to all participants.

“I had no idea it was about StuySpace,” sophomore Jeffrey Wu said.

The party was also held to raise student awareness of the SU, its members and the availability of the SU office.

“We wanted to celebrate […] the opening of the student union as place to hang out,” Ma said.

“Many freshmen are nervous when they see the SU because it’s right behind the senior bar,” freshman President Oren Bukspan said. “[They] should not be intimidated, but they should want to go and check the SU out.”

“Usually I would hang out on the half floor or at the [first floor] student lounge,” freshman Simon Ayzman said. “Now I know that there is another place to hang out.”

Freshman Michael Silverblatt did not know the SU members prior to the event. “Now that I know who these people really are, I’m definitely not going to think twice about approaching them or the SU,” he said.

There was some speculation that the waffle party may have taken place to raise awareness of the SU-College Office switch.

Freshman Vice-President Jessie Lawrence said, “It was just the SU giving out waffles. [The SU] didn’t even make a profit on anything that was given out. There was no connection to the college office ordeal whatsoever.”

Students who attended the event responded positively. “The waffles were amazing!” freshman Jackson Maslow said. Maslow was “excited that there was free food and a comfy place to sit,” he said.

The SU was “really crowded and hectic,” Ma said. “It was full until about 4:40. We had to stop letting people in because we had to clean up at five.”

Sophomore Jeremy Wu did not think the SU’s attempts at drawing attention were effective. “The people who always go to the SU office are going to still do so, but I think most people will only bother if there is free stuff involved,” he said.

Ma said, “Hopefully [the SU office] will seem to be a more friendly place, less intimidating for underclassmen, a place to come and hang out.”