By: Chloe Smith
Less than a month before the first day of classes, Southern Adventist University administration
sent a mass email announcing significant changes to campus dining options. Students were
surprised to learn that meal plan funds would no longer apply at the Village Market (VM), while
The Kayak smoothie shop inside the Hulsey Wellness Center would be closing.
The email, which was sent to all students on July 28, explained that meal plans would be
concentrated in three dining locations: the Dining Hall, CK2 and The Garden. The university
explained that this would allow Food Services to “focus its resources on providing consistent
hours, dependable service, and a strong variety of meals and menu options throughout the week,
while keeping meal plan costs as low as possible.”
According to Justin Moore, associate vice president for Business Operations and Risk
Management, the decision was made due to the financial performance of Food Services in recent
years.
“The reality is that our food service program as a whole was struggling financially, and meal
plan dollars spent at the VM was a significant part of that,” Moore stated in an email to the
Accent. “Meal plan spending was spread across a number of different locations, which was not
financially sustainable. After careful and prayerful consideration, it was decided that we need to
focus on the three primary Food Services venues on campus.”
Moore said the university had been monitoring the program’s finances for some time.
“Food service is core to how we take care of our students,” he stated, “so when we looked at the
full picture, we had to make some difficult decisions to protect the long-term health of the
program.”
Despite starting the semester with a lower enrollment of new students, Moore said the changes
had been under consideration before Administration was aware of the enrollment numbers.
“These are really two separate issues. This particular decision wasn’t tied to enrollment numbers
— it came down to making sure we’re being as efficient as possible with our resources,
especially when budgets are tight,” Moore stated.
Moore explained that Administration evaluates every area of campus on a regular basis. The
Kayak and the Village Market were removed as dining options due to their significant impact on
the budget.
“Both locations weren’t generating enough revenue to keep pace with the rising cost of food and
supplies, which made them difficult to sustain long-term,” Moore stated.
Other locations like the Dining Hall, CK2 and The Garden had shown healthier financial
performance, Moore explained.
“Those locations serve a larger volume of students and have been operating in a healthy financial
position,” he stated. “They’re centrally located on campus and help round out the overall dining
experience we’re able to offer.”
Village Market
The Village Market has begun making plans amid the loss of meal plan spending, according to
Steven Miller, associate vice president for Financial Administration.
“A portion of Village Market’s sales did come from meal plan spending, and the VM team is
already developing new strategies to keep serving students and the community moving forward,”
he stated.
The VM does offer payment alternatives for students outside of the meal plan.
“Meal plans are no longer accepted at the Village Market or the Deli, but both locations remain
open for student purchases,” Miller stated. “Students can still use prepaid funds loaded onto their
student ID cards (southern.edu/card), along with other accepted forms of payment (cash/credit
card).”
The VM and Deli menu, along with current hours can be found on the Southern website.
The Kayak Closure
Unlike the VM, The Kayak, a smoothie shop formally located in the Hulsey Wellness Center,
will be permanently closing. According to Moore, the space previously occupied by The Kayak
is not in use at this time and has no finalized plans for the future.
“We are grateful for the memories and connections shared there over the years,” the July 28
email from Administration stated. “We are planning to bring fresh smoothie offerings to the
Dining Hall periodically throughout the year, so watch for announcements sharing when they
will be available.”
Deanna Touchard, a junior strategic communication-graphic design major and former smoothie
tech at The Kayak, described her experience working at the eatery.
“I loved working at The Kayak,” she said. “It was sometimes very busy when we had events and
stuff, but all my coworkers, I was friends with. It was a very cheerful environment.”
When hearing of the closure, Touchard said it marked the end of a chapter defined by memories
she made there.
“I was very sad when I heard that The Kayak was closing,” said Touchard. “At first, I was like,
‘Shoot, where am I going to work?’ And then I just started feeling sad because I was
remembering all the memories of working with my friends and never getting to do that again.”
While many students have expressed concern over the closure, specific groups, such the
university’s Gym-Masters team, are uniquely affected.
Aliya Trott, a junior physical education major and member of Gym-Masters, explained the
importance of The Kayak for gymnasts who practice in the evenings.
“Almost every time that our guys come into practice, they don’t have the time after class or
studying to go to Wright Hall or anywhere else to get food, and the Kayak is just so close to the
gym,” Trott said. “It was pretty simple to just go and get one of their burgers or one of their
smoothies or just a quick granola bar. That way, instead of practicing for two-plus hours on an
empty stomach, our guys have some sort of fuel.”
Trott expressed concern with having meals available after late hours of practice.
“We’ll get into the gym at 5:30 p.m., and some of our guys won’t leave until after 8:30 p.m., Trott
said. “Where are they supposed to get food now? They can’t go to the VM, they can’t go to The
Kayak and all of the other food places on campus are closed by then. It just makes no sense to
not have any other options for them.”
Along with the gymnasts, students in the School of Health and Kinesiology have felt the loss of a
close-by eatery.
“Being a PE major, actually, 85% of my classes are in Hulsey, and I basically live in the Hulsey
Wellness Center,” said Trott. “It’s quite unfortunate now, just because it was so convenient for
anybody who is in Hulsey, and a lot of the time the meals were super healthy and not too
expensive.”
Student Feedback
For many students, the changes made to Food Services have raised concerns about variety and
accessibility of food on campus.
“Honestly, I don’t really know where to eat,” said Touchard. “Before all these food service
changes happened, I would eat in the VM a lot of the time, and I would get snacks from the
Kayak.”
For Liz Struntz, a junior business-strategic communication major, the meal plan changes came as
a surprise.
“I was shocked,” said Struntz. “I personally loved going to the Village Market when I was on a
meal plan because of all the different foods that you could get, especially whole foods.”
According to Moore, the university is well aware of the responses these changes have brought.
“Student feedback matters a great deal, and we take it seriously, but we also have to balance that
with staying financially sustainable so we can continue serving our students well into the future,”
stated Moore. “These are difficult decisions, and we know we won’t make everyone happy, but
we have to make the choices that are best for the university long-term.”
Meal Plan Increase
At Southern, all students living in the dorms are required to have a meal plan, which Moore
explained is a common standard amongst universities.
“Most universities require residence hall students to carry a full meal plan, and that’s the standard
we’ve followed as well,” he stated.
Students have raised concerns regarding the increase in meal plan amounts this year, especially
with the amount refunded at the end of the year remaining the same.
“There’s no point in making your students, who are already spending so much money to be here,
spend even more money now for food that they may not even eat…just because they have to,”
said Trott. “To me, that seems slightly ridiculous.”
According to Moore, this increase was an issue many organizations are facing.
“Meal plan pricing increased to help us keep pace with rising costs, including food, labor and
supplies — something nearly every food service program is dealing with right now,” he stated.
“Even with that increase, we remain one of the most affordably-priced meal plans in higher
education. Regarding refund amounts, many schools offer no refund on unused meal plan dollars
at all, while we still do.”
According to Moore, leftover meal plan money does not get used outside of Food Services.
“Unused meal plan dollars stay within the food service program and go directly toward the cost
of feeding students — things like food, supplies, and keeping meal plan pricing as low as
possible for everyone,” he stated.
Dining Hall Improvements
With less dining options, Moore said that the university is working to improve the Dining Hall
experience.
“We’re expanding cafeteria hours to 7 a.m.–7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 7 a.m.–6 p.m.
on Friday, with grab-and-go options available between meal times,” he stated. “We’re also
working to bring some of the most popular items from the VM and Kayak — like smoothies and
the F’real machine — into the cafeteria, since we know how much students enjoyed them.”
Student feedback played a major role in making these Dining Hall changes, according to Moore.
“We’ve heard some feedback about wanting more variety and healthier options,” stated Moore.
“Not every meal is going to check every box for every student, but there are always options
available beyond what’s on the hot deck. We’re continuing to listen and look for ways to
improve.”
Moore also clarified that the cafeteria’s pay-by-weight system will remain, which the university
is working to get “more dialed in.”
Transparency
One key issue many students brought up is a lack of transparency from the university.
“I didn’t really understand what was going on for the longest time,” said Trott. “I was honestly
shocked and kind of surprised. Also, just the fact that they kind of closed it without any warning
and without giving any alternatives, because now, on that entire side of the campus, there’s
nowhere to go that meal plan is accepted.”
According to some students, another issue was the abrupt announcement from the university.
“I think an email right before school started was definitely an interesting move,” said Struntz,
“especially because they kind of just said, ‘Yeah, this is happening, and then didn’t really explain
or elaborate why. There were a lot of questions from students and really no answers. I think if
they would have detailed a little bit more about why they were getting rid of these meal options,
the reaction wouldn’t have been so visceral.”
Planning for the future
Though Moore said he could not disclose specific financial information, he emphasized that the
changes made this semester were necessary to support students while making difficult financial
decisions.
“It will represent meaningful savings for the university,” he stated, “and more importantly, it
allows us to keep our food service program financially sustainable so we can continue serving
students at a reasonable cost to them well into the future.”
