As students are welcomed back to campus, universities across the country are running into logistical challenges that didn’t exist during a year of online school. For Georgetown University’s only dining hall on campus, commonly referred to as “Leo’s,” the quantity of students and the ferocity of their appetites overran the infrastructure and staffing that was put in place after just a few days, and has forced the university and the students to rethink what a full return to campus looks like.
Like most schools, Georgetown is adjusting to the return of thousands of students after a year and a half of online school. In addition to ensuring the dining hall is properly staffed and prepared for a full return to campus, Leo’s is also learning how to cater to a larger population of students in response to the university’s new dining policy. On Jun. 24, Georgetown sent out a notice to the student body that all students living on campus would be required to have a meal plan, which meant 75% of the Georgetown student population would now be eating at the dining hall.
According to junior Alex Thill, “one of the reasons why there was such a problem at the beginning is because the juniors are now required to be on the meal plan, which means freshmen, sophomores, and juniors are all trying to eat their meals at one dining hall.”
The lack of preparedness for such a vast influx of students resulted in wait-times of more than two hours for a slice of pizza and lines that stretched from the dining hall buffets to the football fields one block over.
“On the first day of class, all I wanted was to grab a quick lunch in between my busy schedule, but the Leo’s line was out the door so I ended up eating an RX bar instead,” said Stephanie Guy, a sophomore in the McDonough School of Business. “A lot of times at the beginning, I would skip the meals at Leo’s and buy something else to eat later.”
Since the first week of school, both Thill and Guy have learned to shift their meal schedules so that they eat during the less popular hours between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. Other students have purchased mini-fridges and microwaves to avoid going to the dining hall all together.
“I have been going out to eat a lot. Although the university has made some changes to try to help with the lines, my personal lifestyle changes have been more helpful in allowing me to eat meals between class,” said freshman Asher Moll.
Since the students’ arrival in August, the university’s administration has taken some steps in order to address the frustration with meal accessibility.
In an email sent to the student body on Sept. 8, Marc Fournier, Vice President of Auxiliary Business Services, said, “We have been tracking delays experienced by some students and adjusting our staffing, technology solutions and offerings accordingly,” he said. Some of these adjustments included faster card readers and the expansion of meal swipes to other on-campus dining locations.
Even with these changes, students are still coming up with creative solutions to avoid the chaos of the dining hall. The facilities and dining staff are overwhelmed and not prepared for such a drastic return to campus after a year and a half of online living and learning.
So, with all this lunch-talk, here is some food for thought: even as schools are opening their doors to students and faculty, the infrastructure needed to support a full return to college campuses and to normalcy is a long way away.
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