I’ve been to the Usdan University Center to eat a couple of times now. I was fair, I gave it not only a second chance, but a third, fourth, and fifth chance. That being said, I can safely say that each of my dining experiences at Usdan has generally sucked. Here’s my list of grievances coupled with some recommendations here and there.
1. The Workers in “The Marketplace:” Most if not all of the workers in that place seem/are unhappy. And no, it’s not only because we’re annoying college students who tend to be self-absorbed, needy, and impatient, especially when it comes to food. Workers working for Bon Appetit’s dining services got their hours cut, health benefits taken away, and their contracts breeched. This just in Wesleyan: that’s a big deal. They need our help. Talk to them, talk to your parents (their money matters to Wesleyan), get involved, and recognize that without these workers making and serving our food our lives would in one way or another be much harder.
2. “The Marketplace” is annoying. The second floor of the Usdan is not only ugly (the carpet in both indoor dining rooms is atrocious) but it’s entirely impractical for reasons I’ll list here and in the next paragraph. Yes, the food quality has increased. But where are our to-go options? If Usdan was meant to combine both MoCon and the old Campus Center, why wouldn’t the powers that be make sure that one of the biggest convenience factors in the old CC isn’t an option at the new-and-not-so-efficient Usdan? Can we get some to-go packaging? Any upperclassmen will remember that the to-go option at the Campus Center was so crucial to our existence as college students who sometimes have other things to do besides sit and eat.
3. Long lines at “The Marketplace:” I guess we could coordinate our schedules so that we don’t get caught in a miserable traffic jam. But why should we, the students who PAY TO GO HERE, be forced to manipulate our schedules (which for some include work shifts that aren’t flexible), class times, and free time around what was a crucial mistake in the design of this building? Not to mention, this was a mistake that could have been easily avoided had student input been considered when planning this thing that was built to supposedly serve students.
In Dean Rick’s email he stated, “In addition to the large crowds during the lunch hour, Bon Appetit is ramping up to speed in a new facility with many of the dining staff performing new roles and developing new skills.” I more than understand this point. What I don’t understand is why workers wouldn’t have been trained Before The School Year Began or why they didn’t receive extensive training that allowed them to practice and get the hang of things before students arrived.
I ask you, the student, that if you see a disgruntled worker trying to make your Iced Vanilla Latte with 2% milk and a little bit of ice having some trouble, take it easy on him/her/hir. Many of these workers were taught how to use the machines they work behind hours before the dining services opened.
Wes didn’t invest money and/or time in training their workers and henceforth is met with unhappy workers and irritated students.
Oh and to whomever this may concern: I noticed that there is no burrito line anymore, which was a smart idea since it was one of the longest, but you instead chose to pre-make burritos with condiments for us to put on ourselves off to the side? Instead of completely cutting off personal contact between students and the sweet workers who make our food (not to mention completely cutting out our input in the way our food is made), why not hire more workers? Forcing students to just grab food without recognizing that there is a face behind the counter and hands that work hard to prepare the food only alienates us further from the workforce that keeps Wesleyan running. I know you know you’re understaffed, and you know we know you’re understaffed—the secret’s out. Let’s do something about it now.
4. Here’s a shout out to Delmar Crim. Please don’t tell me that if I hate Usdan so much I don’t have to eat there. I have other dining options and I know that, and I use them, frequently. But the Usdan University Center is meant to be the center of campus; that’s how it was marketed, that’s why our mailboxes are there, and that’s what it was fed to us as. Thus, if we were told that building was to be the center of our world for the next four years, then we each have every right to want to use a facility that we pay to use and that was built to be used mainly by us, the students.
Leave a Reply