The Collegian

Issue date: 8/28/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Annie Douglass Students enjoy slight changes to Oliver Hall dining, which include increased seating areas and the incorporation of Dryden Hall.

Students throughout Saint Mary's campus have a stigma for Sodexho food, compelling them to complain of its disappointment continuously. Attempting to relinquish this distaste for the campus dining, the Saint Mary's administration decided to make some serious changes. Although the renovations will be transforming the atmosphere and the quality of the food, the process will not be complete for another two years.

In an interview last semester, Sodexho Manager Matt Carroll said touch computer screens and a kitchen renovation will be implemented over the next two years. The long-term plan is to completely renovate the entire area behind the new partition. The servery will be expanded by removing the wall behind the dessert station to include the current kitchen.

The director of the Physical Plant, Joseph Kehoe, said this new area will provide "space for better kitchen equipment to be able to serve the students better food faster." These renovations will open up room to offer several more options of food including a pizzeria and a "hot-off-the-grill" area.

Saint Mary's began construction on June 11 and will continue to redesign Oliver Hall until mid-October. Presently, the white partition is one of the only apparent changes the dining hall has undergone.

Head cashier Jorge Pavon believes that the new arrangement is "working very well. The students feel more comfortable with where all the sandwich and salad bars are placed." Saint Mary's student Gorby Lingad '10 agrees that "the design [of Oliver Hall] looks nice." However, Lingad said, "The construction doesn't seem like it's going to go anywhere."

The division is also placed there in order to prevent congestion in front of Oliver Hall, and allow students who may have brought lunches or outside food to come in and sit in the dining hall. Kehoe said this new system "encourages a more welcoming community for commuter students who could have brought packed lunches."

Also, the tray accumulator was moved next door to Dryden Hall. Finally, the smaller partition within Dryden was constructed to cover up the tray machine. Dryden has been re-floored and refurnished with round tables to "offer students different eating styles and options," said Kehoe.

Since Dryden Hall has been turned into another dining area, the Student Center has been moved to Hagerty Lounge in De La Salle Hall. This is one of many relocations happening on campus.

Although it is currently hard to see the vision of an attractive-looking dining hall now, Kehoe said, "we just need to look at the bigger picture."

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