EMU students need food service at McKenny

A few years ago the new Student Center was built and food services in McKenny Hall ceased to exist. This worked out fine for people who parked near the Student Center or had classes in a nearby building, but what about the people at the front of campus?

As a student who has all of her classes in the front of campus, I find this to be very annoying. There are many times I will have a 15-minute break between classes, and I would like to go and get a quick bite to eat. However, there is no way to get to the Student Center and back in that amount of time, so I am usually forced to grab a bag of chips from the vending machine. This is an option that is not only not very filling, but also not too healthy.

People who work toward the front of campus have the same problem. If they only have a 30-minute lunch break, it is very difficult to get to the Student Center, get their food and then get back to work in that time frame. So what can be done to help those of us at the front of campus? Right now there is barely anything in McKenny Hall. There are three offices and a lot of open space. So, why not reestablish food services in the building?

I’m not saying we should put all kinds of restaurants in there like we have in the Student Center, because that would probably be a bit pricy. However, it could be made into a dining hall-type set up. There could be drinks, a few different hot meal choices, and maybe a little deli area. There is certainly room to set up tables and chairs, and by doing all of this, I think it could be made into a really nice set up.

Restarting food services in McKenny would not only help out those of us up front, but it would also be good for the hall itself. It is a nice building, but it is dead in there. By putting food in the building it would become a more active place, and we wouldn’t be wasting so much open space.

Because of all of this, I think putting food services in the building would be a very positive decision. We would be using space that is currently being wasted, giving the building and really the whole campus a positive boost, and we would be helping out the students and faculty in buildings toward the front of campus.

I know there has been talk about doing this type of thing in McKenny in the past, but nothing was ever done. Hopefully someone can get the ball rolling on this again, so students on both sides of campus can have a place to go and get something to eat without having to walk forever.