Stouffer Commons closed its doors permanently as a result of a decline in the demand for residential dining, forcing students and faculty to only use the three remaining dining halls -- Kings Court/ English House, Hill, and 1920 Commons.
This is the most recent shut down in a long line of dining facilities that the University has closed in the last year. McClelland Hall -- which was located in the Quad -- was closed last fall, and CHATS was shut down in the spring. Campus Dining, who shut down the first floor of Stouffer in the spring because of the large number of meal plan cancellations, has now decided to close the entire dining hall due to a decline in the customer base.
According to Marketing Manager for Campus Dining Mary Ruggiero, seating capacity in the four dining halls exceeded the demand for residential dining, noting that students have been choosing instead to frequent retail locations for food.
"With nearly 140 different dining options on and around campus, more and more students are choosing to dine in retail locations, as well as residential dining facilities," Ruggiero said. "Because of this trend we are not serving the number of customers necessary to fully justify keeping all four dining halls open."
Ruggiero added that closing Stouffer will allow Campus Dining to improve the quality of service for their customers.
"Closing a dining hall allows Campus Dining Services to manage our resources, focus on our strengths and provide an all around better residential dining program," Ruggiero said.
With the Stouffer closing, students who live in the Quad will have to eat at one of the three other dining halls. Ruggiero says that this should not be a problem in the fall.
"We expect to fully accommodate our customers within our remaining three dining facilities," Ruggiero said.
Despite the loss of a dining hall, Campus Dining has expanded its Express services to cater to the students' needs. In the fall, Express lunch and breakfast will be offered at 1920 Commons -- where CHATS was formerly located.
Campus Dining attributes this expansion to the success of Express Lunch at Hill.
"Because forty percent of all dining customers choose the Express lunch option that has been available at Hill, Campus Dining has expanded this service to better serve our customers," Ruggiero added.
Although the Express service has been expanded, Ruggiero says that Stouffer will remain closed. Though the future of Stouffer remains unclear, the University is currently exploring various uses for the facility.
"There is no need for more all-you-care-to-eat dining facilities on campus," Ruggiero noted. "We have no plans to reopen Stouffer Commons as a dining facility at this time."
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