With students already struggling with hectic schedules, a clear understanding of when meals are available is essential. Unfortunately, the Grubhub system is not very reliable when it comes to when meals are ready.
Transparency between the administration and the student body is the building blocks that make a happy college campus, and communication is exactly what has been lacking. In previous years, the Commons was originally set to close at 8 p.m. Many students had classes that would end at 6:35 p.m. and club meetings that ran close to closing time. This left students a small window of opportunity to go and get their last meal of the day.
Last semester, a new closing time of midnight was implemented for the Commons. This seemed great at the time, since students are often up all hours of the night. This would mean that 11 p.m. or midnight is when students would actually need a meal to help them stay productive. However, it makes no difference because the workers start taking away the food at 9 p.m.
Why advertise that the Commons is open until midnight when there is little to no food being served after 9 p.m.? What is the point of having the workers stay there for an extended period of time when there is nothing for them to do? It does not take the staff three hours to clean the dining hall. This is not their fault, since the workers are just doing their jobs. This is more a problem with Gourmet Dining, the new dining service on campus since last semester.
So in reality, nothing has changed about Commons. There is still only a small opportunity for students to go and have dinner. With the Ehinger Center closing at 7 p.m., Commons is the last option for students who are out late doing work, sports and other activities. If Drew wants to make dining changes which benefit its students, they cannot only do it partly — they need to fully adhere to their promises for improvement.
Samantha DeFalco is a senior majoring in English and Italian, minoring in writing and communications.
Featured image courtesy of Samantha DeFalco.