If you stayed on campus during spring break, there was probably at least one occasion where you found yourself tugging on a locked door at Hunt Hall Café.

When the door didn’t budge, you probably stopped to read the sign taped to it, and noticed some news that was less than accommodating to your empty stomach.

During spring break, the dining hall closed at 4 p.m. every weekday, was closed completely on March 21, and did not reopen again until 4:30 p.m. March 22. South Congress Market, Outtakes and the Huddle were closed for the duration of the break.

Even when Hunt Hall Cafe was open, options were extremely limited, especially for vegetarians and those with other dietary restrictions.

St. Edward’s University residents who remained on campus were left without dining options every night at dinner time and for nearly all meals during the last weekend of the break.

Hunt Hall Café may be a cafeteria, but it isn’t Luby’s. Being forced to eat dinner before 4 p.m. not only gives new meaning to the term early bird special, but is impractical for the general population and college students alike.

From the disappointed, annoyed residents leaving the empty dining hall to countless aggravated Facebook statuses, negative sentiments about the lack of hours were reflected everywhere on campus.

During one unsuccessful trip to the dining hall Sunday morning, I was joined by no less than six other angry students who had arrived expecting to be fed.

Limited options and hours are understandable with fewer students on campus during break, but limiting them to this extent was not only a severe inconvenience, but a financial burden to remaining residents.

Unlike Christmas vacation, where students are prohibited from staying on campus, residents are freely permitted to stay during spring break, and as such, should be accommodated.

While many students choose to stay at St. Edward’s over spring break to enjoy Austin festivities like South by Southwest, other residents, especially out-of-state and international students, have to remain here because it is not logistically or financially feasible for them to return home for the week.

Other students have jobs and other activities that they must remain in Austin for.

If you live on campus, you are required to purchase a meal plan.

It is not fair for residents to have to spend their own money elsewhere on nearly a week’s worth of meals, when they have hundreds of dollars sitting on a meal plan that they cannot touch, and a food service provider that doesn’t care to cater to them.

In the future, food service options should be tailored to accommodate residents rather than cutting costs for Bon Appétit’s convenience.

 

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