Ladies and gentlemen, The Levee has finally arrived! With the addition of Mike’s Pizza, the campus watering hole is finally hopping the way it was envisioned. As a quasi-regular, I can attest to the fact that The Levee was practically a ghost town on some nights. This just goes to show how much value is placed on good food and variety here on campus.
Sodexho does an adequate job, at best, of providing the students on campus with meals. I will admit they have some tasty dishes. However, their former virtual monopoly on food was a drawback for the university. Now, non-drinking and underage students can utilize The Levee as a social gathering place. Before, without an event, there was basically no reason to go unless alcohol was involved.
Although hell will freeze over before this will happen, the campus “diner” should really be turned into the next off-campus satellite. The Stag has consistently been given low marks by this paper. Indeed, the very environment is nauseating due to the overwhelming greasy odor. Last year for Halloween, a student spent several hours in there just to authenticate their fast-food costume. In short, it is not at all a campus meeting place. This is the greasy spoon of Southwestern Connecticut.
The university will soon undergo contract negotiations with Sodexho regarding whether they will remain the on-campus food provider. One of the provisions of this new contract should be to allow outside companies to run The Stag. Imagine an on-campus Athena or a Firehouse Deli in the Campus Center. I sincerely doubt that people would protest closure of the current Stag.
We have seen what Mike’s can do in terms of providing a compelling reason to eat here on campus. I believe the same can be done in the campus center. This helps local business and forces Sodexho to better its product. Frankly, “Rob and Iggy’s” doesn’t hold a candle to Mike’s Pizza.
These upcoming negotiations are an opening for more choices and options for students. There simply needs to be more light shed on the terms Sodexho operates under.
In the past, students on FUSA have tried and failed to see the current contract. Why is this? If Sodexho wants to stay here, they should be playing by our rules, not theirs.
It took a tremendous amount of pressure on certain administrators to allow Mike’s Pizza into The Levee. This foot-dragging, coupled with the clandestine behavior regarding our current contract, is poor form. (If you want to prove me wrong, then send me a copy of the contract and I will print a retraction.) This is one area in which students need to have a say, especially when it comes to our dollars being spent via a contract we cannot see. (The recent hike in meal plans coupled with fewer actual meals is also an issue I’m sure some would like to bring up.) I guarantee you that students would vote for more projects like Mike’s and against inferior venues like the Stag Diner.
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