Darius Adel '24
Satire Editor
I spend most of my time in between classes anxiously procrastinating at the library. If you are anything like me, you may have noticed that we got some new chairs recently. Not only that, but they are Herman Miller Aerons, which are like the Mercedes Benz of office seating. When I realized that essentially all the broken-down, faux-leather chairs had been replaced, I was a bit surprised, since Herman Miller chairs are pretty damn expensive. I’ve never been able to afford one, but I’ve admired them from afar for years. My guess was that the school had just spent at least $100,000 on them.
Pictured: A happy student studying for finals.
Photo Credit: Darius Adel '24.
With my curiosity sparked, I decided to reach out to Amy Wharton, director of the Law Library here at UVA. Wharton gave me the lowdown on how us law students came to be sitting on these extremely expensive and comfortable chairs. The office chair purchase originated from the complaints students had about furniture at the library. In reaction to that complaint, the library put in a bulk order with Herman Miller. The old chairs were given to UVA Facilities, which will in turn sell them to the public via their ReUse Store.[1] The library ended up purchasing 247 new chairs at $980 dollars apiece. That’s well over $240,000 on just chairs. They are really well made and come with a twelve-year warranty, which is nice, but that is still a lot of money. Spending that much seems a bit crazy. But when you think about it as an investment in student health, things start to make more sense.
The old chairs at the library were fine. I never had much to complain about, except that some of the arm rests were broken. But these new chairs are ergonomic, adjustable, and extremely comfortable. Not every law student studies at the library, but a large chunk of us do. Especially during finals season, students spend hours a day sitting in one of these chairs. With the amount of collective ass-to-seat time spent by the student body, the relative comfort of these chairs becomes pretty important. It could be the difference between heading back home after an evening of outlining, hungry and mentally tired, or returning home hungry, tired, and with severe lower back pain.
Pictured: Julia D. '24 testing the "lien" on these new chairs.
Photo Credit: Darius Adel '24.
I’m writing this article in the library, from the comfort of one of our new chairs, and I’ve got to say, it's really nice. Would I have been fine with our old broken-down chairs? Yes. But, that doesn’t mean this purchase won’t help gunners break a cycle of nightmarish back pain. A lot of us don’t take care of our health enough, and posture is a huge part of that. If you’re not exercising and stretching, an ergonomic chair is certainly better than nothing.
I’m not sure that spending close to a quarter of a million dollars was necessary for that, but I can certainly say that I appreciate the library's response to student requests. Sitting at a computer all day sucks. If new chairs can make that time a little bit better, I think that’s probably worth it.
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dsa7st@virginia.edu
[1] UVA ReUse Store (Apr. 19, 2023), https://www.fm.virginia.edu/programs/reusestore/index.html (Seems like a great way to buy cheap furniture.).