It was Isaac Asimov who said, “Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It’s transition that is the trouble.”

Despite the flooding and subsequent closing of the Student Union on Feb. 21, Egan Dining Hall and Laker Inn employees have handled the sudden shift to Egan Dining Hall well, according to Mercyhurst Dining General Manager Dean Schoenfeldt. Schoenfeldt said that his staff is working hard to accommodate students during the transition.

“We’re doing everything to keep the students in mind,” Schoenfeldt said in an email to The Merciad.

After the closing of the Student Union, Egan’s hours were expanded in order to “accommodate late night traffic,” said Schoenfeldt, who also increased the hours of individual stations in Egan, along with introducing a Mexican station in the afternoons.

On Monday, March 23, Egan began offering a Take-out station for students as well.

The workers are also reacting well to the sudden change of pace, according to Schoenfeldt.

“Our team members have been very patient,” Schoenfeldt said, adding that they have been able to successfully “integrate the entire team into the Egan staff,” an integration that was necessary in order to handle sudden influx of students who now rely on Egan as the only dining hall.

However, he also said that the staff is “looking forward to getting back into the Laker [Inn].”

Surprisingly, the stress level placed on the workers has been quite manageable, Schoenfeldt said.

“That the uncertainty of the first few weeks of how we would handle the changes needed to meet the needs of the students was our primary concern,” Schoenfeldt said.

Though Schoenfeldt said that the two teams have gotten used to the new environment easily, “the waiting is probably the most stressful part now.”

On the Laker Inn’s reopening, Schoenfelt said he was confident about the future.

“At this point, the best I can say is that each day allows the window of optimism to open a little bit more. We still have quite a bit of work to do to get open, but I do feel that we can get there before the end of the school year, barring any other major setback.”