Academy Opens Doors to Outside Food Deliveries

By Moksha Akil, Ella Brady, Atishay Jain and Ellie Ana Sperantsas

Dean of Students Brooks Moriarty announced on Saturday, Oct. 17 that students would be allowed to order food from restaurants with in-house delivery to campus. However, no food delivery apps (such as UberEats, Postmates and Grubhub) are permitted. Delivery drivers are also not allowed to enter dormitories. Moriarty asked students to pay over the phone and request no-contact drop-off at designated delivery spots with drivers ahead of time. 

Dorm heads received an email including a list of permitted delivery restaurants: “Local restaurants with in-house delivery include Front Row Pizza, Supreme Pizza, New England Pizza, Pizza Academy, Green Bean, Romeo’s and Domino’s Pizza.” Academy communications did not specify if restaurants not listed, but with in-house drivers, were allowed. 

Food delivery must arrive before student check-in. “It is a dorm rule that pre-dates COVID and is in place for safety reasons (not opening the dorm exterior door to strangers late at night),” Webster Hall Dorm Head Alex Myers said.

Every year, the school sends a letter to local restaurants reminding them of Academy delivery guidelines, according to New England Pizza owner Harry Tsougranis. This year, the letter contained a few extra rules explaining no-contact delivery. “I think the school has established rules that are very safe, but so have we. We’re all extra careful these days,” Tsougranis said.

Tsougranis explained how restaurants have become accustomed to contactless deliveries due to the pandemic. “Many customers would request [contactless] anyway,” he said. “And of course, we always assume that any institution, whether it’s school, a hospital, a company with certain policies would always want us to make deliveries contactless.”

Front Row Pizzeria, another restaurant permitted to deliver onto campus, has also adapted well to the new policies. Employee Amanda Wilcox, however, explained that issues arise when delivery drivers are not sure where to put the food, and students are not clear with their instructions. “We can’t just put them on benches,” she said.

Besides this one matter, however, Wilcox said that the deliveries are going well. “We aren’t getting as many [deliveries] as we used to, but we still have our regulars, and there have been no problems,” she said. 

According to some students, there have been few issues with delivery. “It’s fun to occasionally treat yourself and your friends to a great meal,” prep Vedika Amin said. “The guidelines set by the school are very appropriate and completely reasonable.” 

Amin did voice some concern about the risk involved, but noted that the requirement for the delivery to be contactless “significantly lower[s]” the probability of infection. 

Prep Caitlin Murray agreed. “It’s really nice to have a break from dining hall food, and the opportunity for variety was great,” Murray said. 

Some students felt more strongly about health and safety concerns. “With the COVID cases in New Hampshire going up, I’m not sure if it’s the smartest thing,” senior Alec Tracey said. “Even with all of the precautions, there is still going to be a hazard and a possibility of spread. But there will always be a possibility, so I’m not sure what the right thing to do in this situation is.”

Some faculty members worried that deliveries would become an equity issue, particularly since there are few social activities available mid-pandemic. “I always worry about cost. Some students have money to order. Others don’t have the money to do so,” Myers said. “I worry about how visible that difference is and how it makes students feel.”

Overall, Ewald Dorm Head Diego Ardura was optimistic about the new freedoms for on-campus students. “I feel very comfortable with the steps the administration is taking and it makes sense with how they are starting [deliveries] with a specific set of restaurants,” Ardura said. “Based on my intuition, something I think we will see very soon is expanding those opportunities which students have to order food.”