By Robert Johnson Jr.
General Manager of Dining Services Ralph Eddy led a conversation on Oct. 9 with the Student
Government Association (SGA) regarding recent developments in Dining Services.
Eddy addressed the past summer’s construction work in the Dining Commons. He assured everyone that “phase two [of construction] will be coming” during the winter break.
Eddy added, “One of the things we really want to focus on is to how to improve the Low of the space [in the Dining Commons].”
Regarding the recent opening of the Dunkin’ Donuts in the McCarthy Center, Eddy provided updates on the use of gift cards on campus, as well as the possibility of opening Dunkin’ Donuts on weekends.
Eddy said, “Gift cards will be going online in the coming month. Weekend openings are also taken into consideration, once we ease into our current schedule, of course.”
Senator Matt Bennett said Dunkin’ Donuts employees “worked on my order so fast. It was very surprising.”
Eddy said he appreciated the positive feedback, but acknowledged, “We had a few bumps in the road on our first day, but we are fully up and running.”
One funding request was approved during this meeting – an allocation of $816.20 to SGA for
promotional water bottles for upcoming health-related events on campus.
President Ben Carrington said SGA’s mission is to “promote health on campus by working together with the Health Center to ensure the importance of health and wellness for college students.”
Class & Club Treasurer Allie Flood added, “[The water bottles] were a hit last year at the Health Fair, and a common problem on campus is that students are often dehydrated.”
Carrington added, “I think the more we’re out there, the more interest we can garner in Student Involvement.”
In her Class & Club Treasurer’s report, Flood announced an upcoming, Halloween-themed fundraiser for SGA on Friday, Oct. 26. She said, “We’re going to have bags to fill up with candy and people can donate money to us.”
She added, “We’re looking at the week of November 25 to December 1 to have our yearly parking lot raffle. Stay tuned for more details.”
In her Student Trustee report, Ayanna Ferguson provided an update regarding the online training program proposed by the Board of Trustees. This program will be similar to AlcoholEdu and Haven, the program on sexual assault prevention, but with an emphasis on bias training.
She said, “It will most likely be ready by next semester.”
During his report, Social Events Coordinator Matt O’Sullivan revealed the location of the upcoming SGA Retreat after an enthusiastic drumroll: The Cape Codder Resort and Water Park in Hyannis, Massachusetts.
In his report, Vice President Alex Backer addressed an upcoming event on Oct. 25 in DPAC. He said, “For those of you who don’t know, Jackson Katz is known for doing TED Talks, and we are beyond honored to have him on campus.”
He added, “It will be from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. and it will be the hottest thing on campus.”
In her advisor’s report, Amanda Haskins said, “I encourage all the new senators that were sworn in during the meeting to get involved and sign up for committees.”
She added, “The more you get involved in SGA, the more you get out of it.”