The Sledge, which has served as the senior lounge, will no longer be available for exclusive senior use next year, as revealed to the Class of 2015 today in a meeting conducted by Dean of Students Kevin Williamson and Division Head Butch Keller.

Located in Manzanita adjacent to the current faculty dining room, the Sledge is one of the privileges that have come along with being a senior.

The Human Anatomy and Physiology class will acquire a new human anatomy table in the fall, which will displace Academic Counselor Suneeta Mani from her office. She will move into the office of Director of Business and Entrepreneurship Juston Glass, and Glass will move into the new innovation center, which will replace Manzanita Hall’s faculty dining room. The Sledge will become the faculty dining room for the next school year.

“As soon as school’s out, we’re building an innovation center,” Keller said. “It’s going to be really amazing. That needs to be a big space, and the only big space [available] is the faculty dining room. One thing that I wanted to make clear to the rising senior class was that this will be Mr. Glass’ home–this will be his office–but it’s not Mr. Glass’ office, it’s the innovation center. And the innovation center will be available to anyone in the entire Upper School.”

Some students and alumni view this as a positive change.

“It was smelly and humid so I never hung out there,” Maneesha Panja (‘14) said. “I think people will find better places to hang out, and I think it’s good that they’re remodeling it because then hopefully it won’t smell.”

Other graduates report spending “one to two hours every day” in the Sledge.

“Really, it’s just a great place to hang out with friends. If there was no Sledge, I don’t know where seniors would go,” John Hughes (‘14) said. “I know that when we got the Sledge I was really looking for some place where the seniors can go and hang out together. The juniors have Shah; Main was for the sophomores; the freshmen have Dobbins; the seniors don’t really have anywhere other than the Sledge.”

Most construction and renovation will take place over the summer. Keller states that the innovation center will live up to its name, including floor-to-ceiling whiteboards, divisible transparent whiteboards attached to a center module containing power outlets, and other technological upgrades that allow for more creativity.

According to Assistant Head of School Greg Lawson, space is always a concern for schools and institutions.

“Sometimes you have to make tough decisions about how to accommodate the programs when space is finite,” he said. “Decisions are made based upon use and best support for students, so I think the decision made to do that wasn’t done lightly and probably had a lot of thought behind it.”

Some rising seniors think that the change is undeserved.

“I think it’s ridiculous, because our whole grade has been counting on the Sledge for however many years we’ve been working hard at this school,” Suraya Shivji (11) said. “I think that we’re entitled to this, not because we’re seniors, but because every class before us has had it, and I don’t think that we should have to suffer.”

Keller invites students to share their ideas through their class student council.

“At this point, student council’s job isn’t to fight the innovation center but to suggest alternate places for the seniors to call their own,” said Sarah Bean (11), ASB President for the 2014-2015 school year.

Keller has also stated that other campus-wide room changes are currently being considered in what he refers to as the “domino effect,” but most ideas are still speculation.