While many on-campus students were trying to stay dry during the storm last week, Aramark workers posted signs saying McCall Dining Hall, often referred to by students as the café, would be closed during Spring Break.
For those students that plan to stay in Grambling during the break, this news was not only devastating, but also disturbing. How would they eat?
Students who live on campus pay $1,659 for meals each semester. What many students don’t know, is that Spring break meals aren’t included in the 245 service days contracted between Grambling State University and Aramark.
Residential life went around to each dorm and counted how many residents planned to stay during the break. After reviewing the data, Eddie Rushing, director of food services met with Leon Sanders, vice president of finance at GSU, and a few others to decide whether to open the café.
“Since Spring Break is so long, and because of all of the flooding, many students are displaced, we want to make sure we help them. So we decided to go ahead and stay open for the spring break,” said Rushing.
Aramark’s 10 year contract with Grambling ends June 2019. The company is also over Tiger Express, the POD Store in Jacob T. Stewart, and Cash Street.
Tiger Express will close Friday, March 18 at 5 p.m. and will reopen Tuesday March 29. The dining hall will be providing a brunch and a dinner meal each day starting Saturday, March 19 and ending on Tuesday, March 29.
Brunch will be served from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and dinner will be from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.