I don’t know about you, but when I get back to campus after a break, it doesn’t quite feel like I’m back until I’ve eaten in the dining hall. There’s just something about walking in, smelling all the food and hearing the chatter as you swipe in and wave to your friends.
Eating in Brewer Dining Hall, or as it is affectionately called, Cobo, is an experience almost every Union student shares.
So many things in our lives have undergone major adjustments due to COVID-19, and eating in Cobo is no exception. Last semester, all of the self-service food options were removed. Large protective screens were put up, and dining services worked hard to get students in and out quickly to minimize everyone’s chance of exposure.
You can imagine my surprise as my friends and I walked in for lunch on our first day of classes to find that the huge screens were replaced with smaller, less obtrusive ones, and best of all, the salad bar, ice cream machine and toast bar were back!
“We wanted you to notice,” said Gena Mandle, assistant director of dining services at Union. “So when you came back, it wouldn’t be, ‘Oh, COVID is back in our face again.’”
The idea was a big reveal when students walked in for the first time this semester. I think it is safe to say that the students did notice.
“I respect the way they eased into this and had a semester with much less contact,” said sophomore social work major Anna Thompson. “But then this semester, they’ve adapted well to allow everyone to have the full Cobo experience.”
This semester, dining services’ goal was to stay safe but bring back some of the pre-COVID options. They’ve worked hard to keep the employees, students and food away from germs while trying to regain a sense of normalcy.
Many old favorites, such as the self-service stations, have been brought back in new ways. In order to continue complying with CDC guidelines, dining services has implemented what they call a “safe plan,” which includes gloves and sanitizer at the salad bar, toast bar and ice cream machine.
Everyone sees these visible safety measures, but what many don’t know is that Creative Dining employees come and replace the serving spoons every 30 minutes. They also wipe down frequently touched surfaces.
Another notable change in Cobo is that they have worked hard to boost the quality of the grill line in particular. Burgers now include cheese melted on the patty and toasted buns.
“It’s the little things,” Mandle said. “It takes more labor to do that, but that’s what we’re gonna do. We want to give people what they want.”
The self-service options and sense of things becoming more normal have made my dining experience a good one this semester. Even so, Mandle is continuously thinking of safe new ways to improve and revise the food options and displays.
Dining services wants to know what the students want and seeks to implement changes based on the feedback they receive. If you have suggestions or compliments on the changes that have taken place, you can fill out a card in the dining hall or email dining@uu.edu.
“It’s tough, but we’re working on it,” Mandle said. “We love student feedback.”
