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Whitney Dining Hall in East campus will still offer meals on weekends due to the actions of student leadership groups, dining services, and the Department of Residential Life.

Whitney Dining Hall to remain open on weekends in upcoming school year

By: Perry Robbin

Posted: 6/15/09

Whitney Dining Hall will remain open on weekends this coming school year, according to a May 18 press release from UConn's Department of Dining Services.

Dining Services had originally planned to close the dining hall on weekends because of a university-wide request to locate efficiencies and cost-savings.

A meeting was held in mid-May with representatives from dining services, the Department of Student Affairs, East ampus and USG to discuss the issue. Two major issues were raised in the meeting, according to the press release from C. Dennis Pierce, director of Dining Services.

The first issue was that a number of students had already chosen housing for the coming school year under the assumption that Whitney Dining Hall would operate seven days a week.

The second issue was the unique culture of East. Student representatives voiced their concern that the closure of Whitney on weekends would have an impact on that culture and community.

The planned weekend closure was the result of the loss of a part of UConn's state appropriation. Millions of dollars from the appropriation cannot be replaced and must result in the reduction of operating costs, Pierce said in the press release.

Whitney puts a stronger emphasis on vegetarian and vegan options because more vegetarians and vegans eat there, according to an e-mail from Pierce. Whitney also places an emphasis on local foods as part of dining services' Local Routes program.

Some students choose to live in East because of its close proximity to the dining hall with the most alternative food options.

Whitney will stay open this academic year because of cost savings that are related to Connecticut's newly proposed retirement plan. However, Pierce called the savings "temporary" in the press release.

The press release states that the university will face challenging financial times in the 2010-2011 school year. The release also states that student affairs and dining services will work closely with student representatives to find solutions to monetary difficulties facing UConn.

Local Routes is a program that encourages sustainable dining and supports local food producers, according to dining services' Web site. It endeavors to teach the community about choosing foods that support the local economy as well as the environment.

Dining services' goal is to mainstream parts of the Local Routes program, according to an e-mail from Pierce. But seasonal pricing causes the cost of local foods to fluctuate, which poses a challenge for menu development.

In a press release dated April 28th, dining services announced two other changes to the function of UConn's food service operations.

McMahon Dining Hall will close this coming year after lunch service on Fridays and re-open for dinner on Sundays. North Dining Hall and Charter Oaks had their quick service, carry-out "grab and go" operations suspended.