It looks like Dean Rick’s e-mail about campus dining came not a second too soon. Sources tell us that the Wesleyan parents’ listserv is mobilizing en masse to contact the university with their concerns about Usdan. Text of the Dean’s e-mail below:
As many of you have experienced, we have had significant lines during the peak of the lunch period. This is not a new challenge. In fact, in previous years during the first week of classes there have been lines that snaked up the stairs and out the front doors of Mocon and there was significant congestion in Davenport, at Montagues deli and at the First Harvest Café during lunch. In addition to the large crowds during the lunch hour, Bon Appetit is ramping up to speed in a new facility with many of the dining staff performing new roles and developing new skills.
Having said that, Bon Appetit is taking seriously the concerns expressed by students about lines particularly during the lunch hour. The Marketplace at Usdan is open from 8AM-3PM for a la carte dining, from 5-8PM for all you care to eat dining and from 9PM until after midnight for late night dining. For the first two days of classes there were long lines (Tuesday from 11:45-12:30, Wednesday from 12:10—12:40) when over seven hundred students made their way through the servery each day for lunch during the peak lunch hour. Before and after these times there was minimal to no wait at food stations and the cash registers. Again at dinner there was heavy traffic between 5:30-6:30PM. Before and after these times students made their way through the servery with little to no wait.
In addition to the marketplace on the second floor of Usdan, the café on the main floor of Usdan, Summerfields and WEShop are open.
Consistent with previous years, we know that from 11AM-noon, 50% of all students are not in class and from 1-2PM 60% of all students are not in class. Typically what has happened after the first week of classes as students finalize their class schedule is that students choose to eat outside of these peak dining hours.
We ask for your patience and assistance over the coming days and hope that with this information everyone will be able to make their way through the dining areas on campus. If you have other feedback for Bon Appetit please feel free to speak with the Bon Appetit managers at each of the venues or you can email dining_comments@wesleyan.edu. You can also contact Delmar Crim Bon Appetit’s Director of Dining (dcrim@wesleyan.edu).
Thanks again for your patience!
Dean Rick
I should note that the lunchtime lines for the Marketplace today were much more tolerable… Notably because the lines at Pi and Weshop were much longer. There has also been much talk among the students about rumors that, as far as I can tell, are just rumors: Reopening either Mocon or Davenport, for example, or, more realistically, starting a petition to “reclaim” student space at PR heavenUsdan.
To be honest, I’m not sure what can be done. I have a feeling that Wesleyan may take advantage of the 4-year institutional memory at a school like this and just stick with it until everyone forgets what it was like before.
I love Wesleyan. I really do. I’ve never been happier in my life, and I wouldn’t be writing here if I weren’t truly, madly, deeply, head-over-heels in love with my school.
But, man… Usdan almost makes me glad I’m a senior.
Almost. Because, I mean, it is just the first week of classes. I’m trying to be optimistic. The chicken I ate today was delicious. I’ve started to send packages directly to my woodframe. I’m getting pretty good at locking my bike up on the stairway banisters. This doesn’t stop me from looking longingly up at Davenport every time I pass it on my way to class, but, hey, it’s a start, right?