Over the past month, as everyone has adjusted to the opening and convergence of the hUB into the old small dining hall in Marina, there has been mixed reaction about the move. There have been some encouraging responses about the wide variety of food selections and a few pessimistic ones about not having Knights End Café around anymore.
In order to satisfy everyone’s needs, Sodexo Dining Services has decided to incorporate several important changes going forward. According to Corey Baker, Resident Dining Supervisor at Marina, they plan to start up the weekly food committee starting every Friday starting Oct. 21, in which the student body can to voice their opinions on what changes they would like to see in the hUB.
“I want the students to give us positive feedback with what they like and what things they would want more of,” Baker said. “If a lot of students come [to these meetings] then change will happen because the request [process] will be important [to us].”
There have been several parts of campus that have been impacted by the closure of Knight’s End Café and the longer commute to Marina including residents of Bodine Hall and students of the Fones School of Dental Hygiene.
Freshman Rodney McDaniel, who resides in Bodine, said that his usual plans when getting food on campus have changed with all the changes.
“I went to Knights more [often] on the weekends because it was more convenient [for me],” he said. “Now I just eat whatever I have in my dorm to avoid the walk [to Marina].”
Some other concerns that have been raised from the students in general are the increased prices on the menus and longer walk and the discontinuation of popular food items that Knight’s once had. Baker mentioned that most of those favorites will be brought back on weekly basis such as quesadillas, chicken wings and fajitas.
Another person that has been affected is second year dental hygiene student Nataly Posada, who said the students in the curriculum have difficulties having lunch with little time.
“We are part of the program in the dental hygiene school that not having a place to go nearby is affecting us a lot,” Posada said. “We do not have a long lunch time and we can’t walk or drive to Marina all the time.”
The hUB has noticed some other noteworthy changes since it opened including the rapid increase in delivering student food orders in a timely manner, according to Scribe Café and The hUB dining supervisor Tony Panzella. Despite the positive turnaround in customer service, there are no immediate plans to reopen Knights despite students wanting it back. There is talk about possibly transforming the vacant space into a study and hangout place with numerous vending machines with frozen/prepackaged meals.
Baker stresses that the food committee meetings will rely on the students because of the encouraging outcome it can have.
“Jenn [Currier, Sodexo General Manager], Craig [Ronson, Catering Manager] and myself [want to see] positive change come [from the students] speaking their minds and letting us know the positives and negatives [of what we offer],” Baker said. “It is the most important thing students can do because we listen [to them].”