For many Andrews students, Bon Appetit’s cafeteria and Gazebo provide us with the bulk of our meals. However, this past fall semester, the Gazebo has cut hours due to a shortage of workers. The Gazebo's reduced hours have made catching meals far more difficult for a large number of students. For example, freshman Suvan Campbell (freshman, biochemistry) states that the cafeteria hours have "made it difficult for some to make it to meals." He says, "I think it is nice to have the Gazebo around for more time, but they do not have enough available to eat a full meal.” Currently, the cafeteria hours are:
Breakfast, Mon-Fri —— 7:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Brunch, Sun ————— 10:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Lunch, Mon-Fri ———– 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Lunch, Sat —————— 12:30 PM - 2:00 PM
Dinner, Mon-Fri/Sun —– 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Dinner, Sat —————–– 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Likewise, the Gazebo hours are:
Sun (Retail only) ———— 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Mon-Thurs —————— 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM, 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Fri ————————— 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Sat ————————— 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Notably, students share that their class schedules do not align with the cafeteria’s opening times. Numerous STEM majors express that their lab times conflict with the cafeteria's dinner hours. For instance, Zachary Alignay (sophomore, biochemistry) says, “I think that the worst thing about the cafe’s hours is how inflexible they are. I’m sure this goes for most people, but as a STEM major with labs at dinner time and classes at breakfast and lunch, it just doesn’t work. For me, especially last semester, I would go several days only eating ramen in my room. They should transition from breakfast to lunch instead of closing, lunch should go to three, and dinner at four.” In a similar vein, T Bruggeman (junior, computer science and physics) says, “I think the cafe needs to be more communicative with their hours, especially on days that they change. They also need to give better options for people who can’t make it to meals, because lots of people have long labs that go through entire meal times, and with the Gazebo not being open, they have nowhere else to go.”
Overall, sophomore Julaine Phillips (sophomore, medical laboratory science) echoes the sentiments of a significant portion of the student body: “The Gazebo hours this past year have been pretty unaccommodating. As a student with morning classes I’m never able to order before they close. I go to the cafeteria whenever I’m able, but it would be nice to have other options again.” Clearly, the cafeteria and gazebo hours have not been fulfilling students' needs.
Of course, their hours rely on the availability of workers. One cafeteria employee, Rachelle Evano (junior, public health and sociology) cites a positive work experience. She says, “Honestly, depending on your hours, you don't feel the shortage. The work is pretty easy unless you are working a particularly understaffed shift.” As Flavia Sciarabba (sophomore, accounting), a former cafeteria employee, says, “Overall I had a good experience at the cafe. The managers were really nice as well as the rest of the staff, but we were definitely overworked and understaffed.”
Bon Appetit's unaccommodating hours force students to seek other meal sources. However, off-campus restaurants and grocery stores remain inaccessible to many students without cars. During my freshman year, I would desperately search for someone with a car and beg them to take me to Taco Bell or McDonald's on Saturday nights. While this specific problem has been remedied by Saturday take-out, the hours as a whole still do not fit students' schedules. When they cannot spend their money at the cafeteria or Gazebo, they waste their nonrefundable cafe account, which the school mandates. Not only is the current food situation inconvenient, it drains students’ money.
As a possible solution, I would suggest that Bon Appetit hire more workers in order to increase its hours, or that it allows other food vendors on campus who can offer students accessible meals. Perhaps Bon Appetit could also make their food service jobs more appealing by raising pay. Ultimately, they must instate better hours if they seek to serve the campus’s needs.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of 老司机传媒. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, 老司机传媒 or the Seventh-day Adventist church.