The new academic year at Brandeis has seen many changes to dining on campus that have not been received too kindly by the student body. Usdan and Einsteins’ Bagels have seen steep cuts in hours, while the C-Store and The Hive have seen the loss of many campus favorites. We at The Hoot would like to highlight these specific problems and the negative consequences they have for our community.
Currently, Usdan opens at 11:00 a.m. Monday through Thursday. This year, they don’t open at all on Friday. To students who spend their mornings on the north side of campus, such as residents of North Quad, Skyline, or East, this can pose an issue. Even the C-Store opens only at 9:30 a.m. on weekdays, making Dunkin’, which opens at 7:30 a.m. on weekdays, the only option in Usdan. Students coming from the north side of campus seeking breakfast are limited to either going to Dunkin’ or walking downhill to Sherman, causing a major inconvenience. Dunkin’ does not accept meal exchanges, meaning that students have to use either the limited number of points in their plan or spend their own money just to get breakfast nearby.
While Usdan was hit hardest by the new changes, they were not the only place affected. Einstein’s, the most popular place to get food on campus outside of the dining halls, has had its hours cut down. Last year, Einsteins’ stayed open until 10:00 p.m., providing a convenient food option late at night. Now, they close at 5:00 p.m. For many students, this creates a gap in the times that food is available. The Shapiro Campus Center (SCC), where most non-athletic clubs meet, is also where Einstein’s is located. This used to provide students with a convenient way to grab a quick meal between club meetings without leaving the building. The problem now is that almost all clubs meet in the evening, meaning that hungry club members are forced to either find the time for a full meal at a dining hall or find their own food off-campus.
One of the other options for those looking to grab a quick bite instead of a full meal is the C-Store. Despite functioning as a convenience store rather than a dining option, even the C-Store was unable to escape the lower quality offered by Brandeis this year. While its hours remain unchanged from last year, some of the best options for those looking for a quick snack are now gone. Last year, the C-Store sold good freshly baked cookies. Those are now gone. The slushie machine, a longtime favorite of students, is still there, but multiple flavors, including blue raspberry, the most popular flavor in the history of slushies, are now perpetually empty. Only the pomegranate flavor and a highly caffeinated energy flavor are ever actually available.
Wok This Way is a popular location in The Hive. Their fan favorite pineapple fried rice is no longer on the menu. White rice is not as flavorful, and because of this change, The Hive isn’t as delicious as it once was. The location Lemon and Olive is also not as good as it was last year, with a whole different selection of food. Every year, that option changes its identity and seemingly gets worse and worse.
This is a small and significantly less meaningful gripe than some of the other complaints shared, but at Louis’ Deli, a dining option predicated around sandwiches, toasting the bread is apparently a bridge too far. Thus far this year, when ordering a sandwich, the bread is often not toasted. At a sandwich shop, it does not seem unreasonable to assume that the qualifying component of a sandwich be properly prepared, and indeed in previous years this was the case. We get it that sometimes this is because the two person staff is overwhelmed by the lunch rush, but that is an indictment on the administration for not providing them with enough help. This is a problem that seems to also affect the seemingly longer-than-ever lunchtime rush hour lines at Sherman.
Brandeis’ poor quality of dining has for years been a major complaint shared by essentially the entirety of the student body. Brandeis students are forced to purchase a meal plan if they live on campus, regardless of whether or not they intend to eat here. These meal plans are not cheap—the cheapest one costs more than $1600, and most students have even more expensive plans. At a time when college costs more than ever, Brandeis students deserve better than declining quality of food and service that is becoming available less and less with every passing year. If the administration wants to make Brandeis a more attractive school for future applicants, they can start by fixing the dining.
