It’s big, it’s soft and it’s rolling its way across The University of Memphis.
To curious onlookers and those responsible for the anomalous spectacle, the rolling heap of relaxation has become known simply as “the couch.”
“The couch” is a battered pink couch with wheels mounted to the bottom so that it can be rolled and maneuvered through any terrain on campus.
The roving piece of furniture is also covered with more than 100 signatures and interesting quotes written in magic marker.
David Schmid, Jonathan McCarter, Grant Hutton and RC Croy, all students at The U of M and creators of “the couch,” can often be seen riding the couch around campus from their dorm to class — and offering rides to willing students.
While the couch is often used to carry weary students across campus, it is also carrying a message.
“It’s a message for all students to take it easy,” said Hutton. “It brings together all laid back people.”
As unique as a moving couch is around campus, it is not the first “vision and implementation of mobile furniture” the students have created.
“The original moving couch was in Clarksville, and we found it by a dumpster,” Schmid said. “It once got us kicked out of a skate bar.”
When the group found another abandoned couch, there was no doubt in their minds that The U of M was in need of its very own mobile messenger.
“There was a couch on its side with all of the cushions stolen off of it by various people, left unclaimed for weeks in a hallway in Robison hall,” said Schmid.
The group used the wheels from the old moving couch, but the lumber was more difficult to obtain, according to Schmid.
The group said getting the wood out of the dumpster proved to be a challenge, as has preventing the possible theft of the couch.
“We got a dog leash and a padlock to chain it to the bike racks around campus so no one will steal it,” McCarter said.
But for the most part, there has been no hostility or complaints aimed at the couch. The original owners have not come forward to reclaim the couch, and not a single person has protested the couch’s resting place, between the theater and music buildings.
“The best part about the couch is the camaraderie,” said Hutton.
“It’s like a great nap on wheels,” McCarter said.
“Anyone who sees it is welcomed to sign it — or sit on it, for that matter,” Hutton said.
But what makes the couch so widely accepted around the campus is the group’s willingness to give weary students a ride.
“One day, there was just a random guy sitting on it when we went to ride it home,” McCarter said.
“We are always willing to give girls in need a ride to their car or dorm,” said Hutton.
Julianne Dowler, a sophomore at The U of M, is a frequent rider of the couch and recommends that everyone try it.
“I personally have ridden on the couch,” Dowler said. “I really feel it may be the future of America’s transportation.”
But of course, the couch means different things to different people.
“The main theme of the couch is waiting, which students seem to do quite often,” said Pablo Guerra-Monje, a frequent client of the couch.
When asked what he was waiting for, Guerra-Monje said he was “waiting for no war,” and added that “it’s open to interpretation — like a stage, universal and movable.”
The creators of the couch recognize the couch’s ability to calm some of the tension that everyone on campus seems to be feeling, especially lately. They are glad to provide a service, and they aren’t expecting anything in return.
“We’re not getting sponsorship,” the group said. “We are independently funded so far, but we will definitely take donations — we’re college students.”
They are thinking of expansion, though.
“We’ve talked about a coffee table in front and a canopy, and we have plans to add lights.” Most of all, the group said they are trying to invoke a spirit of relaxation in stressful times.
