At the town hall on Tiger Dining hosted by the Student Government Association, students voiced their concerns about Aramark’s business practices, the effects of Foy Dining Hall on available seating and the limited dining options for vegan students.
Myandi Flowers, sophomore in psychology and professional and public writing, said a lot of students were unhappy with the changes made to the dining services.
“It’s not that the ideas are bad, but it’s that some of them are being executed in a way that’s not necessarily benefitting the student body as a whole,” Flowers said.
She said Foy Dining Hall cut off all of the seating for students who weren’t paying for the swipe-based meal plan.
Panelist Glenn Loughridge, director of Tiger Dining, said the Tiger Card office will eventually move out of Foy Hall, leaving room for more open seating.
Jean Gannett, sophomore in studio art and co-president of the Plant Based Plainsman, said she was disappointed when restaurants with vegan options were lost when Foy Dining Hall was built.
“There’s a lot of options that are still there, but they’re just lacking in terms of nutrition and variety,” Gannett said.
Crowe said she was interested in meeting with the Plant Based Plainsman to address their wants and needs for vegan dining options.
Loughridge said special dietary needs for religious or vegan students, as well as students with allergies, could be tended to in the future as Foy Dining Hall evolves.
Loughridge said that an 800-seat dining hall is expected in 2020. He said that the dining service will continue to add options to students wherever they can.
Beth McDaniel, graduate student in human development and family studies, said she is concerned about Aramark’s involvement with Auburn University based on reports of Aramark serving maggot-infested food to prisoners in Michigan.
“We, here at Auburn University, claim to believe in the human touch, which cultivates sympathy for our fellow humans,” McDaniel said. “How do we reconcile this belief and our support for, and willingness to contract with, organizations that degrade and dehumanize our fellow humans?”
That never came up in the research by the Department of Risk Management and Safety, said panelist Bobby Woodard, senior vice president for Student Affairs. He added that he will be having a conversation with the regional vice president of Aramark later in the week, and he will ask him about that issue.
Woodard said that the state-mandated restaurant grades for the University’s restaurants, which are managed by Aramark, were good grades. He said if a restaurant’s grade was bad, the restaurant would be shut down.
Cole Cheatham, junior in sociology, said stories about Aramark serving maggot-infested food were some of the first results when searching for Aramark online, so Cheatham questioned the level of research conducted.
Cheatham asked why Auburn would choose to partner with Aramark, given their patterns of alleged institutional racism. Cheatham referenced an incident at New York University, where Aramark served what some students said was a racially insensitive meal during Black History Month as well as a recent incident at the University of South Alabama, where the South Alabama Dining Twitter account sent out a racist tweet.
According to the Sun Herald, the Tweet read, “The rope outside of the caf last night was just a sign that our food is KILLER! Come get some fried chicken and tell us any different!” This was in reference to a picture circulating the campus of a noose and bicycle hanging from a tree in front of the dining hall.
The Sun Herald reported that the Mobile County NAACP issued a statement condemning the acts and reminding readers that the last lynching in the United States occurred in 1981 in Mobile.
Panelist at the town hall Michelle Crowe, Aramark resident district manager, said she was familiar with some of the incidents because Aramark reported them to their employees as examples of what not to do.
“I wish I could say that all 270,000 employees who work for Aramark are perfect and that none of them ever make poor decisions,” Crowe said.
She said the person who made the Tweet at the University of South Alabama made poor decisions, and Aramark takes appropriate HR-related actions when taking care of these issues.
Panelist Dane Block, SGA president, said the University and Aramark will do whatever it takes to make the best possible experience for all students.
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