The Wesleyan Student Assembly and the Dining Advisory Committee are excited to welcome the Thai Gardens restaurant as a partner in providing expanded dining services to Wesleyan students, as well as encouraging a stronger relationship between the university and our surrounding community. With the introduction of Thai Gardens as an interim dining option, we hope to increase student patronage of Middletown businesses as well as provide students with a dining alternative. This program serves a dual role as part of a larger commitment of the WSA to strengthen Wesleyan’s engagement with Middletown, as well as to enhance dining services.
The Dining Committee, which is composed of representatives from the Wesleyan Student Assembly, Aramark, the food service workers’ union, university administration, the United Student Labor Action Coalition, and the Environmental Organizers’ Network, was charged with selecting the location for our interim off-campus dining program. After much discussion, the committee chose Thai Gardens because of its menu, its labor practices and its commitment to the program. All members of the Dining Committee participated actively in this conversation, with the union steward representing Local 217 indicating Thai Gardens as her preference. The WSA decided to go forward with this program after much deliberation and consultation with university administrators, Aramark, the union and students. In the interest of compromise, the WSA has limited the use of points off-campus to weekdays after 8 p.m. and on weekends for this academic year only. We feel assured that union workers will not lose jobs as a direct result of the implementation of this temporary dining option.
We expect that students will be able to take full advantage of the addition of Thai Gardens as a valuable participant in Wesleyan’s dining program. We look forward to continuing the positive relationship established between Wesleyan University and Thai Gardens in the hopes that this will serve as a bridge between Wesleyan and the Middletown community.
Leave a Reply