In an email sent to all students, staff and faculty this morning, President Ronald Crutcher outlined a number of initiatives that were presented to the Board of Trustees at their last meeting on February 21. The initiatives included a renovation of Emerson and Chase that is expected to cost millions of dollars.

The Student Government Association (SGA) has been involved in the planning of all of these, most notably the new plans for student dining. SGA Senator-at-large Michael Ratliff ‘16 said the renovations will turn Emerson into a sort of luxury coffee shop, with new, more casual seating. There would be several food options, including a cafe that has been compared to Panera.

Ratliff also stressed that Emerson’s wood-paneled interior would be largely untouched.

Dining services is currently undecided about how the new setup would work with students’ dining plans; several alternatives have been discussed but no final decision has been made yet.

SGA Vice-president Floriane Borel ‘14 said that the plan is committed to improving the the current dining hall structures.

“The architectural sketches I’ve seen really demonstrate how much work has been put into this,” she said.

SGA has been less involved in the changes to career services, although an ad-hoc committee that addresses concerns related to career services exists.