Williams Dining Hall shut down on Oct. 18 for renovations, leaving Geisert Dining Hall as the sole campus location taking meal swipes until construction is completed in the fall of 2025.
A grant awarded to Bradley earlier this year made the revamp of Williams Dining Hall possible; however, the timing was not what everyone anticipated.
“We knew [Williams Dining Hall closing] was coming, but we didn’t think it was coming so soon,” Bryon James, Geisert’s chef manager, said. “We were talking [about] December, January or something of that nature … and they pushed it up because they were concerned with the weather.”
Because of the sudden change, Geisert Dining Hall has had to adjust to the influx of students by increasing open hours by half an hour on Monday through Friday. There has also been a shift of Williams staff coming to Geisert.
“They have to learn to go from cooking for 200 for dinner to 800,” Daniel Devore, a Geisert supervisor, said. “Now we have more staff, but that’s a shock to someone’s system.”
Students have picked up on the increase of Geisert attendance and its impact on the dining experience.
“I’ve noticed that Geisert has been way more crowded, especially at lunchtime, and the food I like runs out faster,” April Tippett, a junior animation major, said.
Thomas Santini, a freshman game design major, feels the same way and that the staff-to-student ratio is inadequate.
“The dining hall gets noticeably more packed during certain times of the day,” Santini said. “I appreciate that there are now more staff at Geisert, but it still feels like they can be understaffed at times in relation to the amount of people coming to eat.”
Although Geisert has gained staff from Williams, it has also lost many student workers, but it’s not because they’re quitting. Bradley employs Aramark for its dining services, and its employees are unionized.
“You have to rebid. That means the highest person on seniority comes in and decides, if qualified, which job they want,” Devore said. “That just naturally is going to take away some of those student jobs.”
Despite the removal of many student workers, Geisert has gained more staff than before as it adjusts to the increase in customers.
Because of the changing jobs, hours have been shifted around. Nancy McNeil, a Geisert cashier, is dissatisfied with her new hours.
“I’ve been here 36 years, and I think they should’ve had more jobs that were just Mondays through Fridays. I shouldn’t have to work aside for that,” McNeil said. “But you know what? The only reason why I’ve been here 36 years is because of you [students].”
“Bradley doesn’t care about its employees like they used to,” McNeil added. “The vibe is so down, and it comes from everywhere.”
Despite the complications, Devore and James feel the staff have been doing good work.
“They’ve adjusted really well. [We’re] not getting call-ins … So, yeah, I’m really proud of the team,” Devore said.
Devore is also appreciative of students’ flexibility as they’ve been forced into a more crowded space.
“Williams tends to be more freshmen, and this tends to be more upperclassmen,” Devore said. “I think they’ve been pretty polite to each other … And, you know, I think they have been fairly positive when it would be easy to be negative.”
That doesn’t mean that students don’t have complaints, though. As a vegetarian, Marlow Greenan, a freshman game design major, feels Geisert has fewer vegetarian options than Williams.
“I miss the pizza. It always provided a good option if Geisert didn’t have anything vegetarian,” Greenan said.
Jane Mascari, a sophomore in the academic exploration program, agrees, feeling that there are limited options for picky eaters.
“I cannot sincerely believe that it’s that hard to have some plain pasta or something out every day for some consistency that works for people who don’t want to eat a salad or breakfast for every meal and don’t feel like waiting for a sandwich from the single person making them,” Mascari said.
As staff adjust to the changes, they hope to provide a better dining experience by adding those different stations.
“You might see someone making omelets one morning. We’re going to have a burger station. We’re going to have a pasta station, pizza, we’ll have True Balance still,” James said.
To know what changes students would like to be made, Devore hopes that students will use the Your Voice Counts cards to provide feedback.
“The cards are so important,” Devore said. “That’s one of the ways we know how we can improve during this transition … Providing good service and healthy food is our passion. We’re not going to please everyone, but, boy, do we try.”
With all the changes happening, there are minor ways students can make the jobs of the Geisert Dining Hall staff easier.
“It’s not a demand; it’s more of a request. Just remember that if they make a huge mess at their table, someone has to clean that up,” Devore said.
Despite the bumps in the road and uncertainty of the future, the excitement for the future of the dining halls is potent.
“I was contemplating retiring, but I really want to see what it’s going to be like when we get back up there,” McNeil said about Williams.
