While some students are content spending the summer subsisting on smoothies from Collis Cafe or Billy Bobs from the Courtyard Cafe in the Hopkins Center, most students are lamenting the limited on-campus dining options this Summer term. With Thayer Dining Hall and its three dining locations closed for renovations, students face a limited selection of food and dining locations. Both students and Dartmouth Dining Services employees have noticed increased traffic in Collis Cafe and Courtyard Cafe, the only two on-campus dining facilities open this term. One of the most common complaints expressed by students interviewed by The Dartmouth was the smaller food selection at the Courtyard Cafe as compared to Food Court or Homeplate.
“The menu in the Hop was good in that it was different from [Food Court] and Homeplate,” Alfonso Villegas ’12 said. “By itself the menu at the Hop is seriously lacking in taste, nutrition and variety.”
Vaidehi Mujumdar ’13 said he does not view the Courtyard Cafe as a “main” dining facility.
“The Hop is more of a breakfast or snack place to me so it’s definitely a change to have to go there on weekends,” he said.
Despite concerns about over-crowding at the Courtyard Cafe before the term began, however, several students said that lines at the Hop have been very similar to those in other terms.
Although students have complained about a lack of options at the Courtyard Cafe, some have expressed appreciation for the extended summer hours of Collis Cafe.
“Collis is a great alternative,” said Mujumdar. “Obviously they have limited options too, but at least some of the typical Collis things … are still available.”
Students who were unhappy with the on-campus dining options said they would be more likely to dine off campus or cook for themselves during the Summer term to provide a change of pace.
“I am way more inclined to eat off campus,” Villegas said. “[Yama Restaurant] offers a cheap and delicious lunch special that I am going to jump at now,” he added.
DDS staff members have also had to transition from the normal summer operating procedure in which Food Court served as the main dining hall.
Although there were some early difficulties integrating employees from Food Court and other dining facilities into the Courtyard Cafe — some Food Court employees needed time to learn the Courtyard Cafe “lingo,” for example — they have handled the situation well overall and are now working much more cohesively, according to DDS employees.
Another employee, who also wished to remain anonymous, said that employees really “had no other choice” but to quickly learn how to work together, as staff assignments were determined by “higher-ups” in DDS.
The same employee, however, credited DDS managers with getting “helping to “get everybody on the same page,” and helping employees adjust to new positions that they would not normally hold during the year.
“At first nobody knew anything, but we are finally starting to come into it,” one employee, who asked to remain anonymous due to union rules concerning speaking with the press, said.
“There are just a lot of changing roles this year, people playing different parts,” another DDS employee said.
DDS employees also noted that both Cafes feel unusually crowded this summer, both from employee and student perspectives.
One employee, who has previously worked for DDS over the Summer term, said that student crowds seem larger this term than in the past.
“I feel like we are busier over here than it has been in past years,” the employee said.
Another employee, who has worked for DDS in past summers, said that student crowds also seem larger in comparison to other years.
According to several employees, temporary DDS employees have the added benefit of raised hourly wages over the summer as a result of successful union negotiations prior to the term.