Heated sentiment has been at the center of many student discussions with the arrival of the new Starship food delivery robots on the Rose Hill campus — it even made the local news. The robots have made quite a commotion, with students questioning the possibility of the robots forming connections with one another and their impact on student life.
The fleet of nine robots is a part of Fordham’s initiative of finding new ways to make students’ campus life easier — but do we students actually want this? The answer is a bit complicated. When questioned by Fordham Now about the new robots on campus, Vice President of Student Affairs Michele Burris said, “Being able to order food at different hours of the day and have it meet them as they’re heading to class, to practice or to an event—it’s just a very innovative and exciting opportunity.” The robots are able to deliver food from most of the restaurants on campus to any building. But with the option to deliver food instead of going in person, does this mean there will be a significant impact on student life on campus? I think so.
Looking back on my first-year, as a wise old senior, I can truly say that hanging out around campus, going to the Marketplace with people I had just met and relaxing outside was imperative in my making friends and getting to know others. I made some of my best friends in the morning after a long night, meeting up at Starbucks for a quick coffee or taking the long hike to Urban Kitchen for some late-night chicken tenders. With the addition of these robots on campus, I can see students staying in their dorms more and being less social, a crucial part of college life.
I don’t seem to be the only person who feels this way, either. An Instagram account by the username @fordhamstudentsagainsttherobot, was recently created to share student-submitted photos of the delivery robots with captions hating on the presence of the robots on the campus. One of the posts made on the page reads, “This will not be the last thing automated away from us #humans at this school. They may be new, but a human could do this job better and faster and have the opportunity to be paid.” And as crazy as it sounds, I agree with them. All the food workers on campus are some of the nicest and hardest-working people I have seen, especially when they have to deal with students. AI has been a major topic of conversation, and with the robots integrating into our campus life, I am scared for the future of human connection. Conversely, another Instagram account was made under the username @fordhamstudentsfortherobot where the account administrators accept student-submitted photos and praise the work of the robots. They even made a post on Labor Day, reading, “No breaks for the robots even on Labor Day.”
One positive thing I see about having the robots on campus is that they will be able to accommodate students with disabilities or students who struggle to go out on campus and get food. For students with these issues, I think the delivery robots are a great alternative. However, for the rest of the student body, this could be detrimental to their ability to connect face-to-face with other students and get used to campus life.
I understand the process of integrating the robots into campus life, but all things considered, I believe that they are a waste of funding and time. For many years, students have complained about conditions on campus, the tuition raises and, most importantly in this case, the food. Adding fancy robots to campus does not change the fact that the food still sucks or that tuition has increased 10% in the past two years. Additionally, the robots promote staying indoors when the focus should be to upgrade restaurants on campus, including increasing pay for the workers. That way, students will want to go out with their friends and spend more time on-campus.
The delivery robots, while not all bad, are just unnecessary. The university’s focus should be on more important things, though I will definitely be using the robots at least once this year.
Rachel Servidio, FCRH ’26, is a communications and culture major from Poughkeepsie, New York.
