One-day burger shortage sparks immediate reply from RPI admin

Members of the Student Senate met with RPI Auxiliary Services and Sodexo Group last Tuesday to discuss recent and upcoming changes to the dining halls at RPI. In attendance was Director of Auxiliary Services Mohamed Ali, Sodexo Campus’ Vice President of Operations Joshua Hubbard, and other representatives of both RPI and Sodexo. The purpose of the meeting was to strengthen communication about dining halls between students and administration, which Ali admitted in-meeting tends to be lacking.

Due in part to the communications impasse between RPI students and RPI Dining Services, the Burger Fiasco started on Wednesday, September 3rd when Sodexo removed burger options from their daily menu. RPI students immediately noticed the change. Senators Shruthi Anandraman ’28, chair of the Residential Life and Dining Committee, and Jordan Krishnayah ’28, chair of the Student Government Communications Committee, sprang into action, creating a petition to bring back the burgers. In less than 12 hours, the petition had received over 100 signatures from RPI students, urging RPI Dining Services to bring the burgers back. To date, the petition has received 204 signatures total. The following day, burgers were back on the menu for all RPI students. In the meeting with Anandraman and Krishnayah, Hubbard emphasized that Sodexo is actively seeking student input in shaping the future of campus dining. He specified, “I’m perfectly happy with a petition, but it feels like it takes a long time. We want to be able to react quickly to stuff.”

Ali and Hubbard noted several of the other ways that students could expect dining halls to change within the semester. Auxiliary Services has been combating the issue of mice and other pests in both Commons and Sage with a vengeance. Over $100,000 has been spent on Sage alone, put towards filling holes in the building to keep out vermin as well as a new cleaning company to service both dining hall locations. Taking cues from the University of Albany, also serviced by Sodexo, RPI will soon be implementing a permanent self-serve smoothie bar in Commons, as well as new vegan, kosher, and halal food options outside of those at Simple Servings. In fact, Sodexo Global has a goal to offer 50% plant-based options by the end of the year. Students can also expect changes to dining hall hours, particularly in BARH and Blitman. However, it is unclear what hours will change, as RPI Dining is waiting to collect its own student input on when dining halls should be open—through avenues separate from student government.

Rensselaer Dining’s Student Culinary Committee, overseen by the Rensselaer Dining Director of Marketing Victoria Cirilli, is a new entity completely unaffiliated with the already-existing Student Senate Residential Life and Dining Committee. If you’re not confused yet, the Sodexo Concierge Program, run by the aforementioned Rensselaer Dining’s Student Culinary Committee, is yet another way to contribute your feedback to dining here at RPI. If you’ve seen the people with the prize wheel outside Sage Dining Hall, you’ve seen the Sodexo Concierges. Sodexo hires students to run this program in an attempt to make other students more comfortable providing feedback. Rensselaer Dining, and Sodexo as a whole, wants your feedback on problems you encounter in their dining halls.

Fixing problems appears to be somewhat outside of Rensselaer Dining’s skillset. Menus for all locations were unusable for the beginning of the semester up until last week, an issue attributed to their software servers not working properly. Despite having held up to four meetings a week to resolve the issue, they have only now been able to find a solution. When asked about interim solutions, faculty directed students to the Rensselaer Dining Instagram page for menus, which have never been posted on the platform.

Despite these problems, it is clear that student feedback is a valued part in shaping the future of perhaps the most important part of student life on campus. For students who want to curate their experience here at RPI, this is an excellent opportunity for them to do so.