If you take a walk through the U-High lounge, you may notice a group of seniors piled on top of each other. What brings them so close is not their bond, it’s what they’re piled on top of: new couches.

Replacing the couches from last year was something most seniors advocated for but few were actually willing to make it happen. With the go ahead from Principal Andrea Markert, seniors Christian Prenzler, Mary Spaulding, and Grace Henderson sought to raise enough money to buy new and improved furniture.

“The first day of finals they had a coffee stand, so we just wrote on a cup “money for couches” and put it right next to the coffee,” Prenzler said. “Then we hung one on the wall above the couches.”

Simple as it may sound, the technique worked raising several hundred dollars. A majority of the donations came through an online fundraiser Prenzler had set up. In less than two weeks, alumni had donated around $500. While it was a great start, it wasn’t nearly enough to pay for a new set.

“When we went and looked around it ended up being $1,000 per couch,” Markert said. “But you guys had raised $800, so I think I paid $1,200.”

Choosing the couch itself proved to be the easiest part of the whole operation.

“Christian, Mary, Grace, and I went around and looked at couches and we all agreed on one so that was nice,” Markert said.

The “Jupiter” couches, part of Furniture Row’s signature line, offer cushioned black leather seats with adjustable headrests.

“Although they are brand new, they feel like they’ve been broken in for five years,” senior Peyton Penn said.

With one couch already in place and another on the way, there’s no telling how long they will last or how long they’ll be enjoyed but one thing is certain: they’ll always be exclusively for seniors.

“Definitely no underclassmen even after hours really,” Prenzler said. “There’s going to be juniors that want to sit there and they’re going to be told no.”