SGA committee works to relay student dining accomidation needs

Meredith Stafford, reporter

The Berry Dining Services is considering new food options for Viking Court. The new choice will replace the current salad bar next to Chick-fil-A. Currently, Berry’s primary food options outside of the Dining Hall are Subway and Chick-fil-A as well as the P.O.D. Market. 

Other colleges and universities that are Berry’s approximate size in the North Georgia area have a similar range of options. For example, Shorter University has one non-dining hall option for students: the Hawk’s Nest Café, with Starbucks included. Similarly, Reinhardt University in Waleska also has a dining hall and one additional, campus-specific dining option for students and is in the same student body size range as the other two colleges. On their website, Reinhardt also offers a allergy sensitivity form where students can request alternative meals. 

Ashley Baxter, SGA Executive Secretary, chairs the Dining Committee at Berry. According to Baxter, the members of the committee consist of each of the class secretaries, all of whom work together with Dining Services General Manager Ian Mungo. Its main purpose is to relay the needs of students so that the dining settings can be adjusted for students’ accomodation.

At the end of the last fall semester, Baxter was a part of a Dining Focus Group that discussed future possibilities for Viking Court. This group was created outside of the Dining Committee and involved the Regional Marketing Manager for Aramark as well as over a hundred students on campus. 

“I reached out to over a hundred students on campus to join the Dining Focus Group, basically to get their opinion of the current dining situations, to hear what they hope to see, just get a little insight to make sure that students are heard and that we pick a place that students will actually like and want to eat at,” Baxter said.

Baxter said that popular ideas that were discussed during the course of this Focus Group were healthy options, Tex-Mex cuisine, smoothies, and create-your-own options. She also stated that healthy and accommodating options were also taken into consideration, such as vegan and gluten free options. 

Currently, Dining Services is taking into account all of the options that were brought up by students and narrowing them down to the main concepts. According to Baxter, they are looking for a food place that will encompass these ideas. She estimates that a decision will be made by the conclusion of this spring semester, but hopes that it will be sooner. 

Baxter wants the new option to be one that students will enjoy and like the choices. 

“I want it to be a place where there’s enough options to where students have plenty to pick from, they don’t feel like they’re eating the same thing everyday, and then there’s something for breakfast, lunch, and dinner,” Baxter said. “And then, I also hope that there is a place that adjusts to the dietary needs of those students.”

According to Ian Mungo, Dining Services is working through the different possibilities and looking for the options that make the best sense of the available space in Viking Court. They are working with Berry College to cover the most popular food suggestions that students have made. 

Mungo said that they are looking into acceptability factors based on the students’ requests, flexibility in menu choices, inclusion of standard favorites and popular seasonal offerings. Mungo stated that they were also considering quick serve, quality and Eco-friendly food.