Contributed photo: Richard Molloy, Jenna Dascanio, Brian Lombardo, Sr. Rita, Christine Barber, Sarah Allen and Preston Reilly attended the re-opening of the Great Room to celebrate the additions.

This Sunday, Dec. 2, Mercyhurst Student Government (MSG) held its grand re-opening of the newly re-done Carolyn Herrmann Student Union Great Room.

In conjunction with last year’s Senior Class Gift committee, MSG had been working on the project for about a year to update and refurbish the Union.

Actively changing the room over the summer and in the fall, the new Student Union now holds a new sound-proof glass wall, four new flat-screen HDTV’s with Direct TV’s NFL Sunday package, new furniture and end tables, accent rugs, a new pool table, two new foosball tables and art-work.

The event included a ribbon cutting ceremony with many in attendance and a viewing party of the Steelers vs. Ravens game, with plenty of free food and drinks.

MSG President Richard Molloy had a few words to say on the event.

“We are excited for students to see the finished project of over a year,” said Molloy. “We took inspiration for the project from the old room where the sisters used to play pool. We wanted to update and modernize it, make it functional. It’s really great to see students using it a lot already and that we had a great turn out today.”

MSG Vice President Brian Lombardo added, “I think that this is a great project. It’s one of the biggest MSG has done in a long time. It’s now a place students can come to relax and enjoy the space. A lot of the credit for this goes to the MSG Board from last year and the Senior Class Gift Committee. It really was a team effort.”

There was a large turnout for the event, with the food being gone minutes after the ribbon cutting. Student reactions to the upgraded room seemed to be very positive.

“It’s exciting to see people already using the new Great Room,” senior Kelley Clarke said.

Senior Nikki Sherretts agreed with Clarke.

“I think it provides a better atmosphere for students to hang out, as opposed to before,” said Sherretts. “There are a lot more activities for students to do together now.”