Auburn's newest "gamechanger" in student-athlete recruiting is ready for operation, according to athletic director Jay Jacobs.
The Wellness Kitchen, a campus dining facility located across the road from the South Donahue residence hall, was opened to the media Friday in advance of its opening to students at the beginning of the fall semester.
"The primary thing is to feed our students," Jacobs said. "[Auburn] Athletics built this and our student-athletes will be eating here. We've also opened it up to students and already sold out of student meal cards."
Featuring an open kitchen, smoothies, multiple salad bars and entrees, the $6.6 million dollar facility will be campus' only "all-you-care-to-eat" facility.
While all student-athletes will have access, student and general public access to the facility will be limited at first.
"Right now we've limited the number of students and student-athletes that can eat here because we want it to be a great experience," Jacobs said. "As we move through the process and if the eating times are working well, we'll be able to bring more students, faculty and your neighbors off the street into here."
Jacobs described the Kitchen as an off-field "gamechanger" in student-athlete recruiting.
"To fuel our student-athletes is expensive," Jacobs said. "This is going to be the place for a student-athlete to come for a student-athlete experience. We're going to put everything in place that we possibly can. Whether it's a place to live, a place to eat, academic support, their mentors or social skills, we're going to put in front of them the best opportunities."
The Wellness Kitchen will differ from other campus dining options in that it will strive to provide higher quality and more freshly cooked food to its customers.
Jacobs said some of the inspiration behind the Wellness Kitchen stemmed from Sewell Hall, which was used as a residence hall and cafeteria during his time as a student-athlete.
"I wanted us to be able to recreate the environment in which I grew up in, which was Sewell Hall with the dining facility," Jacobs said. "We've certainly outdone ourselves on that. As much as I enjoyed the affection of Sewell Hall, this sort of leaves it in the dust."
The Wellness Kitchen is another step toward providing student-athletes with their needs, such as dining, academic support and housing, all within the same area of campus, according to Jacobs.
"The plan is for the student-athletes to live in the residence hall and they'll then eat all of their meals here," Jacobs said. "If there are guys or girls who are seniors and live off campus, they may only eat breakfast here or buy the meal plan for breakfast, lunch or some combination."
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