What’s going to happen to this architectural wonder?

Last night’s Barnard Student Government Association meeting was remarkable in its unnoteworthiness. In contrast with the last two weeks of excitement, SGA welcomed no guests, had no votes, and had no need to enforce order. The topic of discussion was the results of the recent Desserts After Dark survey, the bi-annual survey of the student body that SGA uses to gain input on what they should work on and hows they’re doing so far. VP Campus Life Aku Acquaye presented the results with as much excitement as could possibly mustered for what was mostly dull information.

Here are some highlights:

• 430 students responded, a significant decrease from last spring’s 642 responses. For context, Barnard has about 2,500 students, so this level of response is barely significant. At best, this survey can tell us something about the student population who already cares about SGA, or likes filling out surveys.
• Only one-third of respondents were aware that SGA meetings are live streamed every week.
• Respondents expressed dissatisfaction with the effectiveness of peer-to-peer resources such as Writing Fellows, Speaking Fellows, and the Empirical Reasoning Center.
• 8.2% of respondents identified as food insecure.
• Respondents were generally unhappy with the dining halls not replenishing food towards the end of mealtimes and having food ready at the beginning of mealtimes.
• Students had many suggestions and complaints about space allocation, with requests for more space for working out, music practice, quiet study, communal hang out, theater rehearsal, and much more.

The Q&A portion of the meeting was very informal and not informative. Junior Class VP Surbhi Lohia asked something we’ve all been wondering–“what’s going to happen with LeFrak.” SGA members snapped in agreement. Nobody knows. An external reviewer is supposed to be coming in soon to analyze the college’s space needs. Maybe we’ll all just show up one day and LeFrak will no longer be Back.