UF’s Student Government has been seeking a bit of help from the butts of students.
SG set out 10 unique auditorium chairs beside the information booth in the Reitz Union for passersby to test from the evening of July 11 through early Tuesday.
They have been seeking feedback on everything about the chairs from cushion comfort to cup holder location, SG Allocations Chair Trevor Pope said.
Pope announced the test in an email to members of SG. The subject line of Pope’s email read “Auditorium Seat 'Butt Test' Underway.”
The seat test came as the Reitz Union Auditorium is to be renovated later in the fall, Pope said.
Students were invited to cast a ballot for their seat preference to help decide which seats will be purchased for the project.
“I do not want to see a sea of green,” Daniel Olis, a 19-year-old UF computer engineering sophomore, said as he sunk into chair A.
Chair A was set furthest to the left. Putrid green in color, it sat slightly elevated on a black carpet box.
Olis took a white ballot from the box sat on the information desk. He grabbed a pen and began to scribble down letters.
Seat F, a stockey blue seat with rounded cushions, was Olis’ first choice.
He came chair testing after one of his friends became fascinated by the display of mismatched seats.
That friend was Ian Arcena, a 20-year-old UF mechanical engineering junior.
“What I’m looking for in a seat is comfort,” Arcena said with a serious tone. “If it’s going to be in the auditorium, then I’m going to be sitting there for a long time.”
Arcena went down the line of seats, reclining against each cushion.
Information desk assistants looked on and laughed as Arcena’s friend, Camille Hernandez, joined in the seat test.
Hernandez, a 20-year-old UF materials science and engineering junior, bounced around seats, testing them in no particular order.
She plopped into each chair as though she was testing their ability to spring back.
Hernandez, standing at around 5 feet in stature, said seat height was among the most important factors to her.
“Seriously, I don’t like it when my butt is too close to the ground,” Hernandez said with a smile.
The top three chairs were: Seat F, a round blue chair; seat G, a second rounded chair with black trim, and seat C, a stout cushioned chair with sleek wooden arms, Pope said at the conclusion of the survey.
Pope is hoping to price the chairs so that a cost-effective winner can be selected.
Follow Gillian Sweeney on Twitter @gilliangsweeney and contact her atgsweeney@alligator.org.
Daniel Olis (left) and Ian Arcena test chairs in the Reitz Union for renovations in the auditorium July 11.
