The meeting brings hope for good changes to come while addressing frustrating truths.
Last Thursday, Oct. 8, the Student Government Association Culinary Council held an open meeting with students and several University of Tulsa staff members. The topics discussed included the Hurricane Market’s hours and merchandise, hours of restaurants in the Allen Chapman Student Union, the potential for a new restaurant in the Union, allergy-free options and more. While TU staff provided insights into many exciting changes in progress and in the pipeline, there were also several frustrating yet understandable explanations for things that are unlikely to change any time soon.
To start with the most disappointing news, it is very unlikely that hours in the Union, Hurricane Market or Starbucks are going to change. David Wilcox, who works for Sodexo Universities, described why the Hurricane Market is open for a shorter period of time: “One of the challenges with that is all of the hour changes from last year to this year were based on sales or based on data from sales. … They were operating at a loss for those hours. That’s why they shrunk.” He also said this was the case for Chick-fil-A’s and Starbucks. While it is good to know that hours were not just slashed across the board arbitrarily, it also sucks to know that, because the student body is so small, there is just not enough demand to keep things open at the times students would like them to be open at.
The reason hours were reduced is also the same reason that the university is unlikely to receive any more name-brand franchises in the Union, despite rumors circulating about the possibility of a Panda Express. Wilcox addressed these rumors, saying, “You guys should know that I know you want Panda. … Panda is a partner with us, but they have a threshold of sales that you either meet or you do not. We do not, and we’re not even close.” Wilcox also noted that this sales threshold is pretty common across retailers on college campuses, and Chick-fil-A is no exception. He said, “This one [Chick-fil-A franchise], it barely came in above the threshold. We are lucky to have it, so it’s not going away. But some of the other ones in the state will be going away.” Once again students are faced with the disappointing reality that this university just cannot economically support the kind of variety in options that they desire. Senior Director of Campus Services Robert Kowal added that, “For every 1500 students on a dining plan, you should have one retail option, and if you count our our retail options and you count our population, we are two and a half times the number of retail options, which is why our plans are the costs they are.” This financial strain means that, while students want more dining options, the monetary trade-off for doing so is an unfavorable deal to make.
However, to move on to better news, just because campus is not getting a Panda does not mean that nothing will replace Gus T’s Italian Kitchen. Kowal told the council that “there was a plan to bring in an additional [restaurant] concept, but due to some negotiations, we haven’t gotten there yet.” When later asked exactly when and what students might expect from this new concept, he explained, “There was some talk about an Asian concept coming in that also offered a lot of hot options. … I would not expect that hot option this year. … If the money and the time and the space works, obviously we’re going to shoot for the holiday break. If not, it’ll be the summer and [we will] try to start something back up next year.” In other words, while current seniors must suffer through a year without another option to choose from, future TU students can look forward to having something that is at least loosely inspired by the student body’s desire for Panda Express. And while it is irritating that it is not financially viable for the university to exactly fulfill student wants, it is good to know that they are listening to student voices and doing their best to act on them.
There were also other more positive developments during the meeting. For one, menus containing allergen information should be back on the Pat Case Dining Center menu soon. While Pat used to have them available on the Everyday app, it currently does not. Executive chef Michael Fusco told the council that this would soon be remedied, however, and that “we actually have the first group of menus put together. We just need to be able to produce it so it can go online.” This is great news for students with allergies. Psychology junior Kolton Blaisure noted, “I have a lot of allergy issues. I don’t expect them to be accommodated, I just self-select. But when I don’t know what’s there, sometimes I would swipe in and go in and realize I couldn’t eat anything.” It seems like this will no longer be the case; soon students will not have to worry about whether it is worth it to go to Pat Case or not, and students with allergens can feel much more comfortable in their ability to eat foods there.
In another win for students with allergies, the vending machines across campus are being stocked with allergen-free options. Kowal related that, “All it took was a call and an email saying, ‘Hey, look, I want some gluten free options, I need some nut-free things.’ … I don’t know that I would have ever thought of that had you guys not brought that, so it was easy.” While this change is relatively minor in the grand scheme of things, it is reassuring to know both that the university is willing to make changes to accommodate students when it can and also that it is very responsive to student input.
The university certainly provides no shortage of reasons for students to justly complain about. While the complaining about dining options and hours is somewhat pointless given the reasoning for them, the fact that the university heard student voices and took action to appease them with the menus and vending machines proves that student voices do matter and that students should do their best to stay informed and fight for changes they believe in. So while dining on campus is not even close to perfect, the events of the SGA Culinary Council offer lots of promise for continuous improvement to come.
