It only takes a quick glance around campus to see there are far fewer students present than during the fall or spring semesters.
It makes sense that campus dining options are reduced as well. The need isn’t there. The hours of the classes, however, have not changed. This includes the hours after 4 p.m.
But the Lowder Starbucks closes at 2 p.m., and the Student Center location closes one hour later. Au Bon Pain is closed for the summer to make way for the newer Chicken Salad Chick, according to Campus Dining Director Glenn Loughridge.
But Chicken Salad Chick, Olo Sushi and Papa John’s close at 3 p.m.
For those students stuck on campus later, options are severely limited.
Go Greek stays open until 4 p.m. and Outtakes until 5 p.m. After that, campus dining is reduced to one option until 7 p.m.— Chick-fil-A.
Only Caribou Coffee in the library stays open long enough to cater to the night owls by not shutting down until 10 p.m.
With the reduced student population, we recognize the need to provide fewer options.
When it comes to hours of operation, however, something needs to be done.
This could be as simple as hiring after-hours staff, or offering limited menus after a certain time. It could have been as simple as giving the students a say in their choices.
Tiger Dining is and has always been wonderful in its desire for feedback.
An email survey sent to all students registered for summer classes could have alleviated much of the guesswork for the campus dining staff, and ensured that students required to be on campus for later hours had places to use their TigerCard money, which is often wasted at the end of the semester.
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