The senior class can breathe a little easier now. Mr. Dougherty told the Blackfriar Chronicle last month that the senior lounge will remain for the second semester.

Rumors that the lounge was to become an office had been circulating around the Class of 2014 for the last few weeks of the first semester. Those rumors can now be put to rest.

Dougherty said the plan to convert the lounge into a private office for the Dean of Students would have been too much work to accomplish in the middle of the school year.

An appropriate, private space for the Dean of Students is necessary to conduct personal issues with students.  The current office will not suffice for the future.

The original plan was for the lounge to become the office of the Dean of Students once the second semester began.  The plan was nixed because of “the momentum of the year” and the difficulty of transforming a room into an office in such a short amount of time.

Also, Mr. Dougherty did not want to take lounge away as some seniors were looking forward to their very first open period in the second semester.

According to Dougherty, a group of seniors was asked to explore alternatives to the senior lounge earlier this year, but no viable replacements were found.

The future of the senior lounge remains uncertain. According to Mr. Dougherty, the lounge will become the Dean’s office and the lounge will be relocated.  Another possibility is that the room becomes a common lounge.