On Fridays, I look forward to reading the university’s newspaper to see what relevant issues are on the minds of our students, faculty and staff. Today, I received the April 12, 2010, Issue 11 of The Flyer. To my disappointment, I read the Staff Editorial: Where We Stand Lewis food scam. Given that foodservice falls within my responsibilities, I feel obligated to either correct where appropriate or further expand upon the issues raised by this staff editor.
To begin my response, I started by looking up the definition of “scam.” According to Merriam-Webster, scam is defined as a fraudulent or deceptive act or operation. It is my position that the staff editorial and headline are an egregious misstatement.
Upon signing up for housing, Lewis Students are informed that a university meal plan (which there is four not three) is mandatory. This requirement allows the university to contract with our vendor, Sodexo Services, to ensure that foodservice is provided on campus seven days a week. 100% of the meal plan money charged by Lewis to our students is paid to Sodexo Services. The university absorbs nothing into its coffers as stated in the editorial. In return, Sodexo Services must manage and cover rising food costs, increasing labor wages, government regulation, repair and maintenance of equipment and maintain hours of operation for the benefit of our students even though they may choose to not eat during a certain meal period.
The staff editor also stated that the foodservice program fails to meet the needs of the students including not being open. The editor wrote “There are many times that there are zero dining facilities open on campus.” One would need to agree with this statement if one means between midnight and 7:00 am Monday through Friday (excluding the C-Store which is 24 hour), or between midnight and 9:30am and between 2:00 and 3:00pm on Saturday and Sunday. The editor also failed to report a recent change in hours for Sunday in which the Courtyard Café is now open 10am-2pm. As for the C-Store, students can find chef prepared frozen meals (not the TV diners of the 1960’s and 1970’s) to be eaten in their own rooms on the occasion when dining is closed. It should be also noted that the Lewis University C-Store is only one of the few college stores across the country open 24/7 for its students and that accepts student meal plans for payment versus cash only. The Library vending machines also accept the student meal plan cards.
Furthermore, the editor wrote that the FDA wouldn’t consider ice cream, candy bars, and bruised apples to be a good and balanced meal. We concur, however, it isn’t up to Sodexo Services or Lewis University to force our students to choose healthy items or balance their meal selection. The good news is a wide variety of healthy items are carried in multiple locations on campus for students to choose from.
It comes as surprise that there would be such a criticism of our foodservice program given the few comments and concerns raised out of the standing Student Services Foodservice Committee. When the need arises, students should utilize this Committee to ensure that their issues can be addressed in a timely manner. The Committee in turn would help determine if there is a real problem or a quick fix that should be undertaken. Sodexo management is available to received suggestions or concerns. I hope that this additional information clarifies the issues raised in the editorial and that our students as a whole would agree that no scam exists.
Robert DeRose, Vice President for Business and Facilities
The Lewis Flyer
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