There are a lot of benefits and drawbacks to attending a small liberal arts university. A big positive is a well rounded education, regardless of your major, but one of the most significant negatives is the lack of food options past 10:00 p.m.
Recently at “The Argus” we have had some incredibly late nights that have resulted in midnight hunger. Even though our office is located in the Memorial Center, which puts us right next to almost all the food options on campus, there is no benefit in that convenient placement after 10:00 p.m.
The past two weeks, D.P. Dough has been “The Argus” staff choice for dinner because of the inconvenient hours of Tommy’s, The Dugout and SAGA.
SAGA is considered to be the main option for dinner for students, but its services abruptly end at 7:30 p.m. The Dugout, which holds some of the most popular food options on campus, is open until only 8:00 p.m. Tommy’s is marketed on the IWUEats Facebook page as the late night option, but it stays open until 10:00 p.m. The last resort of the Grab-n-Go closes at 11:00 p.m., but it is incredibly difficult to get a filling, sustainable meal from bags of chips.
College students are infamous for staying up late for study sessions and cramming in last minute assignments. How are students expected to do their best on an empty stomach? It is almost impossible to get quality work done when hunger strikes.
IWU administration could claim that students should plan out their schedules better to ensure they can get a good meal in. But students’ lack of organization is not the only reason for eating past 11:00 p.m.
Intercollegiate athletes make up 32% of IWU’s campus. Demanding schedules can pull away student athletes from being able to have a proper meal. Practices and games can range in hours depending on the sport you are involved in.
Practices going over set hours is incredibly common. For IWU’s men’s lacrosse team, practices have gone as late as 10:00 p.m., which gives the athletes less than an hour to get food from the only available option, the Grab-n-Go.
Later dining options should also be offered for religious reasons. Fasting is very common in certain religions during periods of time. During Ramadan, Muslims must fast from sunrise to sunset. Having such restrictive times makes these extremely important religious holidays have an added stressor of food availability.
IWU’s campus is often referred to by students as the ‘Wesleyan Bubble.’ There are hardly any fast food restaurants within walking distance. This furthers the problem of not having on-campus options open later.
A wider range of hours must be adopted for the benefit of students across IWU.