StuCo Works to Improve D-Hall, Student Relations

A new Student Council (StuCo) led committee will soon help the Academy’s Dining Services serve up what students want.Dining Services has already implemented some changes to food services this year, guided by student feedback provided by the StuCo committee. The dining halls are now offering take-out boxes for athletes going on away games so that the students do not have to eat only sandwiches and Wetherell Dining Hall installed a new toaster in response to students’ complaints that the toaster lines were too long.StuCo and Dining Services are currently working on getting new organic coffee, soymilk and meal bars such as sushi and wing bars, in addition to silverware for individual dorms. Dining Services plans to carry Rao’s Organic Coffee from Amherst, MA; with the results of a student survey, the coffee company will make a unique “Phillips Exeter Roast.”The Dining Services Committee co-heads are also hoping for an addition to the salad bar. “We’re praying for pesto,” senior co-head Claire Keating said. “Pesto once a week is what we really want to see come out of this year.”Council members were excited to see that the Dining Hall staff was open to student feedback. “We are so fortunate to have a Dining Hall staff that is so willing to make changes quickly – you’re going to start seeing pesto on the salad bar. We asked for it, and they’re looking into it right away,” StuCo Secretary Benj Cohen said. “They’re really being phenomenal about listening to students.”The responsibilities of the Dining Services Committee were previously assumed by the Services Committee. However, StuCo President Alice Ju, after working with Director of Dining Services Ward Ganger over the summer, concluded that a separate committee solely focused on Dining Services would work more efficiently.Ju said that the former Services Committee was able to take care of minor changes, but that StuCo now desires to make more significant contributions to Dining Services’ efforts to provide students with the best menu possible. “We've been able to get some small changes done thus far, but I think that food is such an important part of students' lives that we should be able to do larger things,” Ju said.Dining Services Manager Daniel Ferland said that Student Council’s newest addition was a great way for students and Dining Services to work collaboratively on creating meal menus. “I think working with the StuCo committee is a great channel for us to know what students are looking for and to hear what students at large expect to see happen in the dining halls,” Ferland said. “I think it’s a great relationship to have.”Dining Services is looking into fitting “some exciting concepts,” such as the sushi and wing bars, back into the monthly events calendar, after the StuCo committee presented students’ wishes to see them back on the menu.When deciding on a menu, Dining Services primarily considers nutrition, in addition to taste and quality. “We have an obligation to provide healthy nutritious meals to our diners,” Ferland said. “Outside of that, obviously quality and making sure that we’re able to satisfy as many needs that are out there are important. Working with the Student Dining Committee helps us to know what those needs are.”Students had mixed opinions about the idea of a liaison between the student body and Dining Services staff. “I’m a little reluctant to have faith in it just because of how many times critiquing d-hall has been tried,” senior Curran Sullivan said. “Not only that, but there are a lot of kids that would not participate in potential surveys because they either will not think it's a good use of their time here at Exeter when time is so valuable, or they probably think it wouldn’t make much of a difference. In theory, it's a good idea, but a lot of people need to be willing to participate and that can be tricky.”Lower Kevin Zhen said that although the committee brings benefits, having a conversation with a dining hall staff member would be the best action to take. “Having a new committee would be better because we would have more information about what’s going on. But the other day, I talked to one of the dining services staff. A committee is good, but I think the best thing to do is to have an actual conversation with the staff members,” Zhen said. “I learned that they're always searching for improvements, which I was very happy to hear. Honestly, I think that Dining Services is doing very well.”