Cox Hall’s food court will close for the duration of the 2024-25 academic year for renovations, Student Government Association (SGA) President Khegan Meyers (24B) told the body at their Monday evening meeting.
The remodeled dining hall will be “faster, quicker and better,” according to Meyers. Upon hearing the announcement, the room burst into chatter, with one student asking “What am I going to do?” without the dining hall.
Chad Sunstein, Senior Director of Campus Dining, wrote in an email to the Wheel that “after several years of collecting feedback from students, staff, and faculty,” he was excited about potential renovations to Cox Dining Hall. He noted that the project is “confirmed to continue planning pending final approval in Spring 2024.”
“An update to this highly utilized dining facility would enhance traffic flow, food options and seating to provide students with an improved dining experience, elevating their moments of gathering and community,” he wrote.
He added that the project is “in a proposal stage,” and that more information will be shared with students later in the semester, including “plans for additional dining services for the 2024-2025 academic year.”
Meyers and SGA Vice President Abigail Dubinski (25B) plan to meet with David Clark, the University’s Vice President of Campus Life, to discuss dining, housing and other topics on Tuesday.
Last Friday, Meyers said he met with Sunstein to discuss meal plans and dining. Meyers said that the department is “currently evaluating plans that seem less economical to students,” although he did not share specifics. .
Sunstein did not answer questions about potential changes to meal plans.
However, Meyers emphasized during the meeting that the department is “super willing to have feedback, super willing to talk to our contractors, as long as it is driven by data.”
In addition to the news surrounding Cox Hall’s closure, the body discussed forming new committees, removing the College Council president as a voting member on the College Council constitution and plans for National Suicide Prevention Week at the Monday meeting.
Holden Vance (26C) contributed reporting.
Update (9/12/23 at 4:30 p.m.): The article has been updated to reflect new statements from Chad Sunstein.
Correction (9/12/23 at 4:30 p.m.): A previous version of this article stated that the Student Government Body discussed removing the SGA President as a voting member on the SGA constitution. The article has been updated to clarify that they discussed removing the College Council President as a voting member on the College Council constitution.
