Pfeiffer added splashes of color to its walls this semester by getting campus organizations to paint a section in the dining hall to make the space more appealing.

There was a contract amendment this year for dining services, and it allowed Pfeiffer to renew itself. The changes included updating appliances, allowing students to make their own food, and revamping the decoration of Pfeiffer Hall itself.

Ben Nielsen, the dining and conference services general manager, and Chase Henry, president of Alpha Tau Omega (ATO), are behind these ideas.

Nielsen was able to add the new stations and update the hours, and he approached Henry for the other side of things.

“The larger community wanted Pfeiffer to become a more inviting, inclusive space,” Henry said. “Ben came to me, kind of asking for advice on how to make it more attractive to students. So, I just said adding some paint or stickers or graphics would help clean it up.”

The front of the hall, just inside the entrances, is painted red and yellow to match Simpson colors, but that left the inside still white.

They then began reaching out to organizations across campus to see who would like to pick up a brush and advertise their group.

They got many responses including all seven fraternities and sororities, the Multicultural Office, the cross-country team and speech and debate. Even the Campus Activities Board (CAB) got in on the action, painting a bingo card in honor of their most popular event.

“It was the easiest, especially for Greek life, because we were here a week early so we can fit that into our schedule pretty easily,” Henry said. “Going in there now it looks great. It’s really colorful.”

The groups had free reign of creativity when it came to what they painted, as long as it was appropriate. Most had painted their logos and colors, but some got creative with it. The speech and debate team painted an elephant behind a lectern, Pi Beta Phi (Pi Phi) did angel wings, Tri Delta has a dolphin and Kappa Theta Psi (KOY) did a koi fish.

One notable wall includes a collection of detailed paintings of the campus’ multicultural groups’ logos. These include Latinos Unidos (LU), International Student Organization (ISO), Agents of Change Club, Black Student Union (BSU), Simpson College Pride, and the Native American and Intertribal Student Association (NAISA).

It was done by the Associate Director for Multicultural and International Affairs, Tisha Carter-Smith.

“She was grinding and super detailed,” Henry said. “I was watching her paint while we were eating. That’s another cool thing, while people were eating, you could be painting. It was a cool environment to be a part of.”

Even though they have many paintings already, Nielsen is encouraging other groups who haven’t painted yet to get involved.

“It’s still open to anyone to come paint the other white walls,” he said. “We’re trying to get as much involvement from the student organizations here on campus to beautify our space.”

“I think it was a great move on Ben’s part,” Henry said. “I’m thankful that he’s thinking about things outside of his job to boost the space and environment on campus.”