Changes are coming to Late Night and Summerfields after spring break, although rumors of Late Night relocating to Summerfields are premature.
Late Night will return to last year’s hours, however. After spring break, Late Night will open an hour later, at 10 p.m., and close an hour later, at 1:30 a.m., all seven nights a week.
Additionally, Bon Appétit has agreed to keep Summerfields open for lunch and dinner during finals. In past years it has been closed during testing periods.
The Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA) Dining Committee proposed to move Late Night from Usdan back to its former home in the Summerfields dining facility, but such a move won’t take place until the fall semester at the earliest.
“We made the commitment at the beginning of the year to have Late Night in Usdan and we would like a full year of data to see what the traffic looks like,” said Rick Culliton, Usdan Center director and dean of campus programs. “Whether Late Night will be moved out of Usdan and into Summerfields is something that we will consider at the end of this academic year.”
Culliton cited the complications of labor and facilities issues if Late Night were to move. Currently, Usdan is staffed at night to accommodate Late Night diners, and a move would affect the schedules of Usdan’s custodians, managers and student workers, who would presumably no longer be needed to work at night.
“At the dining committee, I said that I wanted to consult with the Usdan staff and the students who work with us before we consider this change,” Culliton said.
Culliton noted that in the past students had advocated for a larger location for Late Night to accommodate student bands and performances.
“The University Center Activities Board has had some great events this year and before we make a move away from Usdan I’d like to make sure that we understand what that move will mean,” he said.
According to last week’s WSA Dining Committee Report, the WSA will continue to push for Late Night’s return to Summerfields next year.
“Moving Late Night back to Summerfields makes a lot of sense,” said WSA Student Affairs Committee Chair Mike Pernick ’10. “The demand for Summerfields Late Night last year was almost double that of Usdan late night.”
Keeping Summerfields open during finals will come at the cost of some food options at Usdan’s Marketplace during reading week and finals, as staffers will have to be shifted from Usdan to Summerfields.
According to the Dining Committee Report, it is likely that the Kosher and Vegan stations will be combined and the pasta station will be closed during finals.
“The students on the committee felt this was a reasonable trade off to have Summerfields open,” Culliton said.
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