The tapping of the young woman’s foot begins to increase with each passing second. Her leather black ballet flat impatiently moves up and down. The man standing next to her toys around with his ear buds as if it were a game.

After what seems like an eternity, the dull silver doors slowly slide open as DePaul students flood into the Loop Campus elevators in full force, like a herd of elephants attempting to reach their destination.

The ever-challenging task of catching an elevator when at DePaul’s Loop Campus is truly an artfully skilled game of timing. One split second differentiates between being on time for class or being the straggler who disrupts a lecture. Let’s face it, dependable and reliable are not the first adjectives that spring to mind when describing the immediacy of the elevators.

Junior Timothy Franklin has experienced first hand just how inconvenient the Loop elevators can be. “The open and close buttons should work if they are there to be pressed,” he said. 

Simple elevator functions often times not do not work properly, and have caused students to use the stairs, particularly when attending class in the Lewis Center.

Senior Abdi Dayib puts forth his best effort to make it on time to class. “I mostly have trouble going to class in Lewis. They are just awful and so slow,” he said.

Another senior Emilia Waszkielewicz shares similar feelings while throwing out a recommendation for underclassmen. “I haven’t taken a Lewis elevator since freshmen year. The number one tip I always give freshmen is to not take those elevators and walk across from the DePaul Center,” she said.

So what exactly is to be done to rectify the elevator madness? Well, the root of the problem must first be identified.

Various DePaul maintenance staff members alluded to the possibility of wiring problems, which could cause the up and down buttons to be severely delayed and all together slow down elevator speed.

The number of floors in the Lewis Center combined with the small number of elevators available also prohibits student traffic to flow smoothly and, most importantly, efficiently.

Mechanical issues remain as the root of the problem, but perhaps this current elevator dilemma can be reached through the means of student feedback and what would make arriving to and from class easier and overall less time consuming.

Graduate student Hazelmarie Anderson shared her thoughts. “First of all, DePaul needs to make the Loop elevators faster and bigger to get more people on and off. It is also scary sometimes when you attempt to get on and then start hearing awkward noises. This automatically makes me think that I am about to plummet to my death,” she said.

Whether anticipating the worse or crossing your fingers for the elevators to work smoothly, DePaul students are ready to take the plunge toward newer, and essentially upgraded elevators.