Anybody a Brandeis parent? They closed Usdan dining hall for weekend service How to voice my opinion

Parents Forum
1

Hey, is anyone here a Brandeis parent? My son informed me that everybody has to cram into Sherman dining hall on the weekends now because they closed Usdan starting Friday nights all weekend. With a school this size, and with scads of international students who cannot “go home” on the weekends to eat, that is ridiculous. They have a new Sodexo dining director as of January 2016, so I don’t know if that has anything to do with it. Besides the Dining Services Director, who can I complain to? Just sounds like they are trying to save money, as they raise the rates of the dining plans! I looked to see if there is a parents’ Facebook page for Brandeis or some kind of forum, but there appears not to be. Any recommendations?

2

Why not encourage your son to voice his opinion instead?

3

Sodexo is terrible…which has nothing to do with the dining halls closing, but Sodexo: ugh.

4

perhaps the dining services is not that busy on weekends, and one will suffice? In other words, kids go into town to eat, sightsee, explore, etc.

Over 50% of students are full-pay, so its not like they lack for resources to eat out frequently.

5

Brandeis has 3500 undergrads or so, right?

My kid’s college had 5000 undergrads…and they only had ONE dining hall…period.

My guess is the school looked at the numbers of meals served on weekends, and the costs to keep two facilities open…and determined that they only needed one open.

Does Brandeis also have points that can be used at off campus places?

6

While visiting campus yesterday as a prospective student parent, i noticed an article about this dining hall closing on weekends in their school paper. Have your S check it out. It must be a big issue?

7

Thanks, ruby95, and to all the other posters who replied. The student union has been meeting with Sodexo officials on campus, so I think the issue is getting some exposure. Hopefully, they will bring service back to upper Usdan on the weekends. Points can be used at what they call “retail” outlets, like a faux Chipotle, Starbucks, pizza places, but those choices don’t seem that healthy to me, although I realize that is what a lot of college kids want. We shall see.