Fordham University has previously been ranked #16 for worst campus food in the country and has a dining rating of “D” on Niche. United Student Government (USG) Vice President of Facilities and Dining Madeleine Ando, FCRH ’27, alongside her committee, is attempting to fix several issues with campus dining and facilities that are important to students, such as operating hours and available food.
The committee is pushing several proposals to hopefully increase student satisfaction with both the facilities and dining at the Rose Hill campus. The biggest possible change is an increase in campus dining hours to more adequately fit students’ needs in terms of the time in which they would like to eat.
The current hours for The Marketplace, the Rose Hill dining hall, are 7:30 a.m. – 8 p.m. for Mondays through Thursdays, 7:30 a.m. – 7 p.m. for Fridays and 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. for Saturdays and Sundays.
Ando has been working closely with Fordham’s dining department on the proposal, who have since countered her committee’s proposal by offering a pilot program to see if students would actually use the hall during the extended hours. Ando reported that, ideally, the hours would change to a closing time of 9:30 or 10 p.m. on the weekdays and an opening time of 7:30 or 8 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
According to Ando, the main concern from the department with permanently adjusting these hours is the lack of knowledge having to do with whether students will actually use the new hours combined with the cost it takes to keep the dining hall open. The department argued that many students use Urban Kitchen as an alternative for late night meals, which Ando and her committee rebutted.
“They talk about how there are popular late night food places, Urban Kitchen, and we countered that by saying, ‘The reason Urban Kitchen gets so overwhelmed at night is because nothing else is open,’” said Ando. “Students want a more diverse sea of options.”
Ando also had noted that within the pilot program, the committee and the dining department have come to another compromise as well; their proposal now includes that only certain stations will be open during the extended hours. This is to assess the usage without a high cost addition, and if the change is made permanent, it will likely be the same long term.
Ella DeBonis, FCRH ’29, is of the opinion that the dining hall hours should be changed.
“I feel like the current dining hall hours are inadequate and aren’t tailored to everyone on campus. I know schools that keep their halls open later on weekends, and later in general, to help and conform to all students’ needs,” DeBonis said.
Leah Renshaw, FCRH ’27, recently moved off-campus and said the meal options were a reason for the switch from on-campus Fordham living.
“I honestly never go to the dining hall. I don’t think I’ve been since I was a freshman. I don’t like the food and I also don’t even know what the hours are,” Renshaw said. “I do not have a meal plan because I have just moved off campus and I cook every meal. It’s much better and much healthier than what’s offered on campus, so I felt like I didn’t need a meal plan anymore.”
Bridget Brady, GSB ’26, also lives off-campus but does have a meal plan.
“Even though I live off campus, I like the option to grab food on campus when in a pinch,” Brady explained. “The move [off-campus] didn’t totally have to do with food, but having a full kitchen is a life changer.”
Despite this difference, she still noted improvements to the dining options that could be made.
“I feel like most food places on campus have bad hours. Either opening too late or closing too early, the open times never really connect to my eating schedule,” said Brady when discussing the current hours.
While this is one major project Ando is currently working on, there are other proposals in the works as well. These include, but are not limited to, an increase in student job opportunities, assisting Counseling and Psychological Services in rolling into a peer counseling program where they’re able to connect students with longer-term therapy care and a potential soft-serve machine for the dining hall.
If students have dining or facilities concerns or recommendations, they can fill out either of Ando’s form for dining feedback or attend one of USG’s weekly meetings (Thursdays at 5:30 p.m.) to bring up improvement ideas.
