Most Gusties know the Dive simply as the place to go for student dances on Friday nights, but it is a big space to only be used every couple Fridays throughout the year. Therefore, talks began last spring about sprucing it up to make it more functional and more inviting.

President Bergman was on the Board of Trustees a few years ago when the Student Senate was pushing for a big Dive renovation, and she was very involved in those conversations. Now, as President, she’s looking to actually do something about it.

“Last spring, the President had said that she was really interested in seeing us start some conversations about Dive improvements. She initiated a conversation with physical plant about things that we could be doing down there, some smaller renovations,” Dean of Students JoNes VanHecke said.

The timing was off to start anything last spring because the updates would have to take place over the summer, but now those conversations are starting again for next summer.

“It’s an immensely popular place for certain activities, then other times, like today, there’s people taking a nap. It’s a big college resource to have empty all the time,” Director of Physical Plant Warren Wunderlich said.

VanHecke was a senior at Gustavus the year the Dive was opened and remembers it as a fun and likeable spot on campus.

“The Dive is a big college resource to have empty all the time.”

—Warren Wunderlich

“Generations of Gusties have loved the Dive, and I kind of feel like the last few years, there’s been less use of it by students. I have this nostalgia about an active and much loved Dive and we clearly have moved away from that. I want it to feel like an inviting space again, but I recognize that in its current configuration, it’s probably not going to be like a coffee shop,” VanHecke said.

Smaller renovations could help to make the Dive a better space for students, possibly including things like new carpeting, replacing the ceiling tiles, more modern furniture, and painting.

“We’re not talking about moving walls, more about cosmetic changes that would make it visually appealing, like a place you’d want to go to spend time,” VanHecke said.

However, the Dive is not unusable in its current condition. It’s a space that is usually quiet during the day and VanHecke views it as somewhat of a cross between the library and the Courtyard Café.

“If you go there, there’s a really good chance that you’ve got this nice, quiet space where not very many other people are spending time,” VanHecke said.

There are some technology updates happening this year within the Dive to make it more suitable for uses beyond Dive dances. An LCD projector is being installed as well as slight modifications to the sound system.

“Event Services is collaborating with GTS and Physical Plant to get the projector installed and working so we can address the growing requests to use the Dive for meetings and presentations so we can cut down on the labor intensive practice of bringing in portable systems since the Dive was not set up to function as a meeting or conference room,” Assistant Director of Event Technical Services Matt Dobosenski said.

“Generations of Gusties have loved the Dive, and I kind of feel like the last few years, there’s been less use of it by students.”

—JoNes VanHecke

Conversations about what can be done to improve the Dive for students are still occurring, especially concerning budgets since there have been some bigger renovation projects over the summer. VanHecke encouraged students to bring any ideas for improvement to her or Andrea Junso.

“If students have ideas about how that space might function, or ways that they see that we’re lacking specific kinds of space on campus, I’d love to hear from them,” VanHecke said.