“I remember my first Cobo committee meeting. I was like, what if you made chicken and waffles, and then the next Thursday I came in and there was chicken and waffles,” Kara Drotar, junior business economics major, said.
I sat in the SGA office with Drotar, SGA’s Chief of Staff, hoping to find out more about the Cobo committee. I asked her what being Chief of Staff looked like. She laughed.
“I don’t know. It’s very flexible. It’s kind of somewhat of a new position and so it looks different depending on the year. Mainly, I just do what the president needs and then I make sure that all the class officers feel supported and like they have my support,” Drotar said.
As we talked, I discovered that her role on the Cobo committee was incredibly similar. The people who serve on the committee are members of SGA; they seek to serve fellow students and give them a voice regarding the food they eat.
“The purpose is to get student feedback and ideas so that they can tell us what people are liking [and] what they’re disliking. We can pick their brains for ideas. Like the last meeting, we came up with a couple contests we’re going to do towards the end of the semester,” Gena Mandle, assistant director of Dining Services for Creative Dining, said.
Creative Dining Services is a company that provides food and services for multiple schools across America. I met with Mandle in her office, which is on the left wall of Cobo. In front of her desk there’s a window that overlooks Cobo, allowing her to see what is going on in the cafeteria.
Last week, the committee visited a candy store bank in Humboldt, Tennessee.
“Rick Taphorn, our VP for finance… Rick’s an idea guy, and he went to that place with his family and saw their milkshake setup. [He] sat in here in January one day and saw that the line to the smoothie station wasn’t as long as it used to be. I said, ‘Well, it is January. It’s cold, frozen drinks so you know it might not be as in demand.’ But it made him think could we do something with milkshakes over there [where] they’re more of a novelty thing,” Mandle said. “He wanted us all to go see what it looked like.”
Relaxed in her chair, Mandle continued her story. “We don’t have the setup to do the whole thing. I mean we can’t make 87 different flavors, but we can maybe do some specialty ones. That’s why the food committee people went with us to get their feedback.”
On the topic of feedback, Mandle shared with me her continual question for herself: “What would students like to see?”
Drotar echoed the idea that Cobo and its committee seek to serve students.
“We have a Cobo committee so that people can join, but also so people know if they have something they’d like to see in Cobo, there’s someone they can go to. We meet two or three times a semester, and we meet with Jim Erickson, Gena Mandle and then there’s at least usually four of us from the committee.”
The Cobo committee allows students to really have a voice in what changes they would like to see in Cobo. Drotar’s favorite change so far has been the addition of chicken and waffles.
As Drotar told me about the committee, I began to realize how much Cobo desires to hear student input and provide food that the students will enjoy. Drotar’s next words were ones I felt everyone at Union should reflect on.
“Cobo’s something that people complain about every day. I think we all complain about it. I don’t really think we take [complaining] seriously, like realize that it’s sin, but the Cobo committee especially gives a way to not just complain about things endlessly,” Drotar said. “Let’s not just complain about it, let’s see if we can make something better.”
I found Drotar’s point food for thought (pun intended). I remembered the times I had complained about certain meals or menu options. While I was complaining, Drotar found ways to make a difference. She talked about how she has people text her ideas for different options at Cobo, and she is able to bring them up in committee with a staff that is excited to hear and improve upon the ideas.
“Someone was like, ‘Hey, could we get yum yum sauce?’ And then I’m able to text him a few weeks later and be like, ‘Look, there’s yum yum sauce in the salad bar now,’” Drotar said.
Drotar emphasized the monumental role Cobo plays on campus, and how because of this, it is so amazing that students have a say in the food and Cobo experience.
Through my conversation with Drotar, I learned more about Cobo than I ever learned about it during my past two years at Union. I developed a greater appreciation for the food we are provided with. But my brain kept leading me back to one question I needed to ask her.
“How do you think students should be responding to Cobo?” I asked.
“Ideally, we start with gratitude, and we’re thankful for what God’s given us and for the work they do and we build relationships with the people in Cobo and we’re super grateful for them,” Drotar said. “If you think about it in a greater perspective there’s not a reason to complain. God’s given us so much.”
Some practical ways she shared to show gratitude included talking to the staff and knowing their names. Additionally, she mentioned that the freshman council is planning an event to thank the Creative Dining staff.
For those interested in joining the Cobo committee, contact Kara Drotar or SGA.
