Newly renovated 24-hour Trumper Computer Center provides added study space, amenities for students

With decor of blues and greens, fresh whiteboards and comfortable new furniture, Trumper has received a facelift to start the new year. Part of Saint Mary’s recent library upgrades, the study space in the basement of the Cushwa-Leighton Library has become a popular space for students to study at all hours of the day.

As a 24-hour space, Trumper has long been a venue for late-night studiers.

Senior Hannah Simpson said she would regularly frequent Trumper before the upgrades, as she was often “pushed out of the library” when it closed at midnight.

“I think personally I have different study places on campus and having those options really helps me to focus,” she said. “If I get bored at one place, I know I can get up and go to another place. So just having a study place at Trumper is just helpful. So if I can’t get my study places upstairs I can come down here.”

But space was often hard to come by — one issue the renovations sought to remedy.

Simpson said she would only visit Trumper by necessity.

“I like the new renovations, I think they’re really cool,” Simpson said. “It definitely helps getting a little more study space down here. I feel like whenever the girls were kicked out of the library at 12 [a.m.] they had nowhere to go, so it’s really nice.”

The renovations included new equipment and decor, which Simpson said may draw in those who traditionally avoided the space.

“You know you can come to Trumper and it’ll be quiet, and it’s nice,” Simpson said. “People will come here even more when [they] have to do things late at night but the library’s not open.”

Senior Taylor Strong said the new amenities changed her mind about Trumper.

“I would come down here to print and get snacks and hot chocolate, but that’s about it,” Strong said. “Now definitely I will come down here more often because it’s really nice.”

The additional equipment made the center much more practical for students, sophomore Elizabeth Ciupinski said.

“The only time I ever came to Trumper was to use the computers … I like how there’s more dry erase boards,” she said. “It’s more spacious, there is more privacy and the furnishing is more comfortable.”

Senior Carey Dwyer also said she would certainly venture down to the basement more often now that the space has been renovated.

“I didn’t really study in Trumper,” Dwyer said. “I stuck more to the first floor of the library. But now that this is down here, I think I will come down here more.”

Dwyer said she particularly liked the new TV and study spaces.

“They look really nice,” she said. “All the lights, too, I think it helps when you’re studying. It seems like a nice place to practice presentations and have group meetings.”