COVID-19 has taken a toll on how colleges in the U.S. function. One of the many aspects of college life the pandemic has affected includes the means in which how students eat on-campus. Normally, students at Ithaca College (IC) would be able venture to each food station and serve themselves whatever they wanted, however much they wanted. Since being back on campus after the initial rise of the pandemic, IC has decided to take a different approach to safe dining.

 

There are two main methods for students to get their food. They can either order their food via the Grubhub app on their phones, or they can use what IC students call the Grab-and-Go method. 

 

Ordering through the Grubhub app is simple. Students can use this to either order from restaurants in the Pub, which is located in the Campus Center, or from off-campus establishments. The on-campus retail restaurants use Bomber Bucks, funds that are loaded onto student ID cards that can be used for tax-free purchases.

 

Since the start of the pandemic, Grubhub has seen sales dramatically increase. According to the Grubhub Inc. full year report for 2020, revenues for the fourth quarter estimated to be about $504 million. That’s a 48% year-over-year increase from $341 million in the same period in 2019. With the pandemic still in full swing and the increase in colleges using the app, the company anticipates a continuous increase in profits. 

 

The Grab-and-Go method helps keep IC sustainable. Students trade in a green carabiner for a reusable plastic container. From there, the students wait on-line to get their food served to them. Once they get their food, they can either sit in the limited seating the dining halls offer, or the food can be taken elsewhere. 

 

These may seem like new methods to students. However, according to Associate Director of Dining Reginald Briggs, “both of them are a massive expansion of programs that already existed.” 

 

IC first year student Lauren Thier arrived on campus on Jan. 25 and uses the Grab-and-Go method about five times per week. In comparison, she uses the Grubhub app about four times a week. Although she prefers to use the Grubhub app over the Grab-and-Go, mainly because of the long lines students have to wait on, she said, “I need to use more of my meal swipes and less of my Bomber Bucks. I think both methods are necessary to keep the students and staff safe.”                                                                                                        

Lauren isn’t the only student wondering about the long lines that trail out of the dining halls every day. Joseph Guidi, a freshman, said that he doesn’t mind the container and Grubhub methods, he just wishes that “both buildings were open at the same time so the lines would be shorter.”

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Briggs said that the lines are the same as usual, but the social distancing measures makes the lines appear longer and more unbearable. The reason for the long wait has been defined as a lack of workers. “We usually employ well over 200 student employees every semester, and now we have about half of what we normally have,” Briggs said. 

 

Briggs said this semester has been a challenging one. While the dining services typically employs more than a dozen students a day, during pandemic that number dipped to three, he said.

 

“I don’t think I’ve ever been prouder of our team, but more bummed out because we are working incredibly hard,” Briggs said.

 

And although the crew are working hard, the employees are being criticized on social media, Briggs added.

 

“We’re getting crucified through emails and Facebook because parents are upset,” Briggs said, explaining parents are upset for a variety of reasons, including …

 

But in such an unprecedented time, the very best is hard to come by. Wendy Tamis, parent of Ithaca freshman says that going into the semester, she received a minimal amount of information regarding the two methods. Now that her child has arrived on campus, Wendy gets daily updates. “I don’t get the idea that there’s a lot of food options, necessarily. But I’ve heard that the lines are getting better each day.”

 

Despite the criticism from students and parents, Briggs said he is optimistic.

 

“We all take a lot of pride in providing hospitality and the caring and the empathy and want to chat with students and provide really good service and good quality food,” Briggs said. “We can’t wait to be able to put the humanity and fun back into dining.”

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