West Village Dining Hall to stay open later Monday through Thursday
By: Gabriel Donahue, Deputy News Editor
The West Village Dining Hall will be open until 9 p.m. for the remainder of the Fall semester, the Student Government Association announced Thursday.
According to an Instagram post announcing the change, the hours will be extended from Monday through Thursday. Previously, the dining hall closed at 8 p.m. and will still close at 7 p.m. on Friday through Sunday.
Expanding the dining halls’ hours was one of the main goals of the 102nd SGA administration, The Towerlight reported.
“Big thank you to our [Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. Vernon Hurte, and Regional Vice-President of Chartwells, Rawn Burnett for their support in helping make this goal a reality,” the post read.
In a May interview, SGA Vice President Damon Edwards III said hopes to eventually extend the operating hours to 11:00 p.m as he feels the early closures make the dining halls inaccessible to students.
While this plan has not gone into effect, the SGA said the extra hour of operation at the West Village Dining Hall is a “huge first step.” The Towerlight asked about the fiscal impact extending dining hours would have, but SGA did not provide information by publication Tuesday.
Freshman Grace Kouaho said changing the hours will help students who have evening classes that may have previously prevented them from being able to eat at the dining hall.
“Some people have classes late, at seven or eight, so it’s sometimes hard to get food,” Kouaho said. “They have to order online or go to the Den, so that’s good that the dining hall is open.”
Kouaho said the extended hours should continue over the weekend.
Freshman Annabel Magege said the decision only to extend the hours at West Village to start limits the initiative’s reach.
“It’s good that it’s open later, but only people who actually live in West Village are probably gonna go to it,” Magege said. “It’s so far away from the residence towers. Nobody’s willing to make that walk.”
While the announcement has gotten positive comments, some students think an extra hour is not enough.
“They could start with opening all the dining halls later,” Magege said. “We’re expected to study late ’cause the library is open 24/7, but the dining halls aren’t, which I think is weird.”