Even though dining centers across the campus have undergone some changes, most of the proposed changes that were made last semester were not implemented this year.
Over the summer, the Pit in Wilson Commons was redesigned and Danforth Dining Center was refurnished, painted and redesigned. A Halal diet section was added to Douglass Food Court.
However, the Student Dining Committee last year had proposed to make other changes, like switching the roles of Douglass and Danforth by making Douglass an all-you-can-eat facility and viceversa. It had also planned to expand the Corner Store.
Determining factors
A number of factors were responsible for the changes not being implemented. ?We were working on a tight timeline ? a timeline that didn?t coincide with the budget we were working with,? said Troy Beason, information analyst of Auxiliary Operations. Beason also said that students? feedback was important to make such decisions. ?Students hadn?t been given enough time to review the change,? he said.
Students? Association President John LaBoda?s Chief of Staff and senior Lonny Mallach said that changing the role of the centers would have caused some tradeoffs. ?Since Douglass is the primary dining location now, and if Danforth were to be made a la carte, it would be further away from the academics,? he said.
Mallach, who was last year?s co-chair of the Student Dining Committee explained that Danforth would not be a convenient place for students to eat lunch between classes, due to its distance from the academic quad. He also stated the cost of construction as a tradeoff that finally lead to the change not being considered.
Implemented changes
Commenting on the present changes made in the dining centers, Director of Purchasing and Auxiliary Operations Quentin Roach said that the focus of the changes this year was on increasing inclusiveness. Referring to the addition of a Halal diet section in Douglass, Roach said, ?Our aim was to bring variety and more inclusiveness and broadening our offerings across the campus.?
However the proposed changes still haven?t been ruled out. Beason said that after talking with students and getting their feedback this year the changes may be considered. He predicted that the changes could be made by next year in the summer.
Chandra can be reached at pchandra@campustimes.org.
