The new project, the work of ASUCD Senator Lexi Raben, uses sliders on tables to indicate whether someone is open to have others sit and join them
By JESSICA YUNG — campus@theaggie.org
Recently, the ASUCD Coffee House (CoHo) has developed a new initiative asking patrons to open their tables to strangers and conversation.
The “Share a Table” initiative, launched earlier this month, installed sliders with a green and a red slide on the tables in the left side of the CoHo’s main dining room. The green side represents that the table is available for passersby to join the table, while the red slide indicates the table is not available for others.
ASUCD Senator Lexi Raben, a first-year environmental science major, who spearheaded the initiative, described it as a way to reduce the congestion and spur dialogue in the CoHo.
“Students are able to sit and meet one another, or if the CoHo is full, they’re able to have a space so they can sit next to someone new,” Raben said. “The whole idea was to make it so there’s more available seating and break that initial barrier of having to ask someone if they’re comfortable with you joining them, because the CoHo is very busy.”
Darin Schluep, the food service director for Associated Students Dining Services, further elaborated on the project.
“This provides an easy way for customers to find a place to sit and eat when the dining room is at its fullest,” Schluep said. “We are piloting this program in one dining room with the hope of launching it CoHo-wide in the future.”
Linh Le, a fourth-year environmental science major, shared a positive sentiment toward the concept.
“I think that this new feature will not only make students more open to talking to strangers but also help address the seating scarcity that can sometimes happen during the CoHo’s busy hours which limits the amount of patrons that can study at the CoHo,” Le said.
The initial concept for the program came from Raben’s fall 2024 Senate campaign.
“When I was first running, I wanted to improve the community on campus, along with promoting sustainable initiatives,” Raben said. “I wanted to do something relating to community tables. The opportunity came to do it in the Coffee House, [and] I met with [Schluep]. He brought up that people can meet at tables that already exist and use [its] existing layout.”
Schluep elaborated on the end goal of “Share a Table.”
“Ideally we would see a higher percentage of our tables and chairs in use during our peak times, while also fostering opportunities for community-building in our space,” Schluep said.
The CoHo is not the only ASUCD unit that Raben is collaborating with for the project. She indicated that she is currently working with the Innovation and Research Lab (IRL), ASUCD’s in-house software development and research team, to analyse the effect of her initiative.
“[IRL] will do surveys and data tracking for different areas on campus, mainly within ASUCD,” Raben said. “They set a baseline of tracking the capacity in the Coffee House — on how many people were sitting in that one room during peak hours. They’re gonna use the [existing] data, to establish the increase in the amount of people sitting at times in that area [from ‘Share a Table’].”
Written by: Jessica Yung — campus@theaggie.org
