Hailed in 1998 as Penn's new "food services czar," former head of dining services Peg Lacey is no longer an employee of the University.
Dining services staff members confirmed yesterday that Lacey does not work at Penn anymore. She is no longer listed on the Campus Dining Services Web site or in Penn's online directory and has vacated her former office.
Business Services spokeswoman Amy Johnson neither confirmed nor denied the departure of the dining head, but said that there has been a shift in personnel since Philadelphia-based food service management company Aramark took over Penn's dining this summer.
"We made a shift from executive director of campus dining to a new contract/relationship manager for campus dining," Johnson said.
The University hired Laurie Cousant as Campus Dining Services' new contract/relationship manager this fall.
Several top Penn administrators -- including Cousant and Associate Vice President for Business Services Marie Witt -- as well as Aramark officials did not return phone calls for comment yesterday.
University spokeswoman Lori Doyle said she had no information on Lacey's departure.
"I didn't even know she left," Doyle said.
Lacey could not be reached for comment yesterday.
The University entered a 12-month contract with Aramark last summer to examine and revitalize Penn's floundering dining services, which have lost campus clientele to alternate off-campus food vendors over the past few years.
Aramark took over where former provider of four years Bon Appetit Management Company left off, adding specialized dining hall offerings and expanding on-campus retail options, including a Subway franchise.
"Campus Dining has obviously been a key issue over the past few years," Johnson said.
Penn hired Lacey during the summer of 1998 to oversee the University's vending operations, retail establishments around campus, four dining halls -- one of which, Stouffer Dining Hall, closed in August 2001 -- and late-night food spot Chats, which closed in December 2000 and has recently been replaced by Subway, Bene Pizzeria and Salad Creations.
In April 1999, the University announced that it would outsource through Bon Appetit that summer, and two years later, officials said that financial problems necessitated further dining changes.
Before coming to Penn, Lacey was a regional vice president for Aramark, through which the University considered outsourcing dining operations in 1997, but was not a member of the Aramark team that visited Penn that fall. Prior to that, Lacey worked as a dining services administrator at Columbia and Cornell universities.
Johnson said that dining services conducted a full review of Aramark and University staff, which began in mid-summer and ended in September.
The University employs resident food services workers, but Johnson said that there would be no personnel changes in those positions.
"We don't expect any near-term impact on those employees," Johnson said.
Vice President for Business Services Lee Nunery and Resident District Manager for Dining Services Michael Cenicola did not return phone calls yesterday. University President Judith Rodin and Executive Vice President Clifford Stanley declined to comment last night.
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