Student Union Lounge Targets Diversity of Students

By: Danah AlAnsari
@DanaAlAnsari

The Student Union (SU) opened the SU Lounge on Sunday to meet demands for a more inclusive community environment.

The SU Lounge, a fully furnished and themed activity room, currently stands in place of Auntie Anne’s old outlet beneath the Administration Building.

The aim of the project is to serve the student body in an active and entertaining manner and allow them to get more comfortable on campus, said SU President Amr El Alfy.

The lounge is divided into three different areas, each with its own theme and purpose such as the Dahab Area for artistic activities and the Qahwa Area for reading and unwinding.

Ahmed ElShazly, associate chair of student services, said that the main difficulty the Union faced was trying to create something that would appeal to all students.

“We did not want to limit it to Playstations or a ‘guys only’ area. That is why we assigned different rooms with different themes,” he told The Caravan.

Perhaps the most eye-catching aspects of the lounge are the paintings which adorn every wall in each of the rooms, adding a fresh lively sense to the area and complementing its broad themes.

While the lounge has been packed all throughout since its opening, many of the students seem to have enjoyed the Dahab Area the most.

“My favorite is the Dahab theme because I felt that I was traveling. It is a good thing that they knew how to set the vibe,” said Ahmed El Semaery, a construction engineering student.

“This [lounge] will build a whole new sense of AUC community. All the [other] lounges are used for something. This is the only one for all students,” said Mohamed El Shalakany, SU chair of empowerment services.

The SU took hold of the area a year ago, after the relocation of Auntie Anne’s to the food court, and has been working on renovating it for the past three months.