Donald Keough, News Editor–

Dining experience is under evaluation, freshman swipes are first to change

On Wed. Feb. 14, freshmen meal swipes became available to use at Slayter Student Union from 8-10 p.m. for the foreseeable future. Along with this, Denison is beginning the final process of choosing a dining provider for next semester. 

Since the freshman meal swipe change, Slayter has seen many freshmen using their swipes, with 140 students using their swipes on the first night that swipe usage at Slayter became available.

DCGA’s dining subcommittee and facility from the Division of Student Life department have looked closely at revising the freshmen meal plan and evaluating dining providers this semester.  Doug Lisko, Director of Student Life Operations and Strategic Initiatives, has been one of the staff members who has worked on the dining experience for students. 

“I’m really excited about the program because we are able to use a space that was already open and a meal plan that was already in place.” Lisko said. 

Lisko has been a part of the process of evaluating student feedback, such as input from surveys. One of the biggest challenges some freshmen have found is the lack of late night options. He believes “the additional flexibility and the opportunities” with the updated swipe access will help fix some of the issues that freshmen have with the current dining plan. 

In addition to evaluating the freshman meal plan, Lisko has also been part of the process of determining next semester’s dining provider. Last fall, Denison issued a Request For Proposal (RFP) to potential dining providers, and currently there are four providers left in consideration, who will be holding presentations this week. Students are encouraged to attend these events and give their feedback.

“The new proposals coming in for different dining providers is really exciting just because a lot of us have only ever had Bon Appetit and it would be nice to have a change,” Katherine Mims ‘25 said. “But also the [Bon Appetit] dining staff have been very receptive to feedback this year and they know that the meal plans aren’t perfect. So either way there will be adjustments and there’s more of an optimistic outlook right now.”

Mims is a chair member of DCGA’s dining subcommittee and has been a part of the process of revising the current meal plan system. She is also working on her own initiative, which looks to lessen the discrepancy between what a meal swipe means, and to define if it’s monetary or if it’s a type of item.

“We’ve been a lot more involved this semester because we’re trying to find a new dining provider,” Mims said. “It’s kind of been a big adjustment. We’re trying to make it as seamless of a transition as possible while also trying to kind of bring back some things that people miss from previous years.” 

According to Mims, the recent changes to the freshman meal plan has been one of the biggest focus points for the dining committee recently because the freshmen plan has received the most criticism this year.

“It was an adjustment that needed to be made,” Mims said. “I think it’s going to be beneficial, and it’s also a little bit of something to appease the masses because the freshmen meal plan isn’t necessarily the most ideal.” 

Kate Ngo ‘27 is the chair member of the dining committee and was also part of the process of implementing the change for freshman meal swipes. One of the biggest concerns that she noticed among freshmen was the lack of flexibility.

“For student-athletes, if they had practice in the evening then they couldn’t have food at the dining halls,” Ngo said. “And if they ran out of Flex Dollars, they couldn’t get food and Slayter either, which was unfortunate given how many swipes people usually have at the end of the week.”

After the new change, Ngo said that freshmen seem to be enjoying the new opportunities.

Looking ahead, the evaluation of new dining providers along with the dining experience for students has made way for a variety of possibilities for what’s next, from revamping the meal plans to possibly expanding Slayter itself. 

We’ve found that there are things to be done and there are things that are good the way they are,” Ngo said. “The input is very diverse, and I’m very excited for what we’re going to do.”