It’s official—the dining commons has done it again. After the initial shock of the salad bowls’ replacement wore off, Sodexo has decided to change things yet again with the addition of red, square plates to the Classics line. The plastic plates that were colorfully decorated as pizzas have now been replaced by rectangular plates to accommodate the length of a slice of pizza.
“We like to keep things changing here,” said Eastern’s Sodexo general manager Mike Kenis. “Students come in and it’s the same thing every day—get in line, get a plate of food, go eat. But every once in a while, we shake things up and keep the students guessing. What will we do next?”
Senior Jason Heigel said, “Since I’m graduating soon, I don’t really care what color the plates are. I just want food.”
However, some students, like sophomore Casey Smith, fell into a near catatonic shock upon seeing the plate change. Shaking, Smith barely got out the words, “Not again.” She continued to repeat this phrase for several minutes as her friends guided her to the nearest table to recover.
The changing plates aren’t the only things that Sodexo has planned. Eventually, Kenis said, the dining commons management would like to rearrange the floor plan of the entire cafeteria.
“When people walk in, the first thing they’ll see is a cafeteria of round tables,” Kenis said.
Also in the works is the idea of moving the salad bar into the current dessert room. The desserts would then be moved to a large-scale three tiers Lazy Susan in the middle of the dining commons that will be refrigerated.
Cereal would also be moved with the desserts to this rounder, occupying the second tier. The first tier would host the milk machines, so students could have easy access to milk with both the cereal and cookies.
The final change that has been proposed in this new look for Sodexo is the addition of small cafes in every dorm.
“The Breezeway has been such a success that we feel it’s time to broaden the range of both food available and places to eat on campus,” Kenis said.
The menu will include basic sandwiches and meals, but students will also be able to purchase different kinds of drinks, including coffee and soda. Several of the cafes will also incorporate small Subway-style sandwich lines so that students can custom-order hoagies and toasted sandwiches.
While all of these ideas seem feasible as a long-term goal, the proposed construction and maintenance will take place over the summer so that the new look will be up and running when students come back to campus in the fall, and the cafes will be constructed in conjunction with dorm renovations.
“We want a new look,” Kenis said. “And overall, our concern is for the students’ happiness, as well as the ease of accessibility around campus.”