By Theresa Schliep

Aramark Corporation, the new food services provider replacing former provider Sodexo, has given a “facelift” to the dining and retail places on campus, according to Dining Services contract liaison Deming Yaun.

“There are no dramatic changes,” said Yaun in a phone interview with The Fordham Ram. “There is a facelift and different management.”

Yaun cited changes made to places such as The Grille in O’Hare Hall, now called Urban Kitchen, the most popular eatery on campus aside from The Marketplace. While the food, beverages and retail provided will remain essentially the same, there are some layout changes. These include the replacement of inside seating for a standup community table.

According to stats from last year, the Marketplace was averaging 18,526 guests a week and the Grille was averaging 16,147 per week.

The Fordham community can expect more prominent changes to the Marketplace in the coming years, as dining services and Aramark make plans for renovation to the Marketplace, according to Yaun.

Renovations to the old bookstore, located in the McGinley Center, should be completed by the conclusion of the fall 2016 semester, Yaun said. The space will be used for additional seating for the Marketplace and potentially for hosting events.

Faculty Memorial Hall now hosts a venue called Salt and Sesame, a bagel shop replacing Zime. Aramark replaced Sub Connection in Queen’s Court with A Crust Above a similar sub shop.

In Dagger John’s, Mein Bowl, an Asian-fusion food location, has been replaced by Chopsticks, a dining location with a similar cuisine.

Franchises such as the “We Proudly Brew” Starbucks and Jamba Juice in Dagger John’s will remain the same, but under a franchise with Aramark. The same applies to Cosi in Campbell Hall.

Additionally, there will be mobile ordering in Urban Kitchen and the bar in Dagger John’s live in the coming weeks.

Aramark’s successful bid to be Fordham’s food service provider was the culmination of a lenghty, tumultuous relationship between the university and Sodexo. After repeatedly appearing on the Princeton Review’s list of colleges with the worst food offerings under Sodexo, the university issued a request for proposals for new food service providers in December 2015. Aramark won the bid in April and began transitioning food offerings this past summer.

Fordham was not featured on The Princeton Review’s most recent ranking of campuses with the worst food.

During the transition, the Fordham community voiced concerns that food service employees would not maintain their employment or lose contract stipulations like seniority, summer pay and health care.

However, the employment retention rate for food service workers at the university was over 95 percent, according to Vice President for Corporate Communications at Aramark, Karen Cutler. Of those that did not remain employed by the university, 12 employees chose not to apply and two did not pass the screening test.

All of the employees who maintained their positions with food services were hired with their rank, seniority, salaries and health benefits preserved, according to Cutler.
Sandy Pope, president of the Teamsters 818 union representing Fordham’s food service employees, verified the status of the food services workers in a phone interview.

“[Aramark] stuck to the letter and we have signed off with a final agreement,” said Pope. She said that this was largely in part due to the Fordham community’s outpouring of support for the food services workers. “We have to thank the students, faculty and administration that supported us,” said Pope. “We wouldn’t have this amount of cooperation without their support.”