South Campus Dining Hall – The talk of the quarter. At just three years old, the newest university dining hall was recently closed on November 22 after not meeting health regulations during an examination just two days earlier.
It was a typical Tuesday morning when city health inspectors went to South Dining Hall for a routine inspection. However, what they found was anything but normal. The health inspectors discovered 40 to 45 fruit flies surrounding various food items that were out for the students to consume. While fruit flies may not seem like anything to worry about, the alarming number was a result of the outdated food unfit for consumption.
Additionally, the health inspectors found various mice droppings throughout the floors of the dining hall and near the food preparation areas. This unpalatable finding, along with the unsettling number of fruit flies, forced the health inspectors to demand that South Dining Hall close.
The dining hall will have been closed for a little over two weeks, which has been an inconvenience for many of the South residents. The University staff has been understanding of the situation, and they have made an honest attempt to accommodate the residents with $100 in Maroon Dollars. While many residents are still finding it difficult to make dinner plans, Bartlett and Pierce dining halls have extended their hours until 10pm to allow a larger number of students to get the same dining hall experience.
After a gruesome two weeks, the dining hall will be open once again for all residents to enjoy. Although the health inspectors found a few disturbing things, this time off will prove to be a great thing for South Dining Hall and the residents who eat there regularly. Check back this week for its long-awaited reopening and for the specially prepared meals to commemorate the staff’s hard work to get the dining hall back on healthy terms.