With the Thrive campaign funding various improvements across Oklahoma Christian University, two items on the menu are getting a fundraising boost — the cafeteria remodel and the addition of a coffee shop on campus.
Recently, the Mabee Foundation announced that if donors give a combined $4,647,209 to these projects by Jan. 22, 2016, then the Mabee Foundation will give the final $1 million to get the two projects up and running.
Donors have given nearly $3.3 million of the $4.2 million required for the cafeteria reboot. UDining donated $1 million to the campaign and the student body attributed another $275,000 to it last semester.
“[The cafeteria] will be over on the northwest corner of this [Gaylord] building,” UDining Director Kurt Hermanson said. “Where the students eat right now will all be for banquets and conferences, things like that,” Hermanson said.
Hermanson said he and the other employees are excited about the cafeteria reboot.
“It should be a much newer, more open, more contemporary space,” Hermanson said. “The plan is to have some booths in there and smaller tables with TVs and more open space in the student center.”
Hermanson said the food options would be modified as well, including more stations and options for students.
“We’ll have more stations where the students will come up and we will basically fix their items to order, kind of like we do for the wrap line,” Hermanson said. “It’d be that kind of a concept on the hot lines too, where we pretty much prepare food for them, right in front of them. We call it action cooking, where we’re cooking in front of the students… most of the lines would be cooked fresh to order.”
The remodel would completely change the 17-year-old cafeteria facility to be more contemporary and modern.
“Our facility that we’re in right now is dated,” Hermanson said. “Part of the campus life when you come to school, people spend more time in the caf then they do anyplace else on campus. And so to give them something extremely nice and up-to-date, I think it helps enhance their whole experience while around campus.”
Junior Seth Cartwright said the remodel is a good idea because of the complaints the cafeteria gets, however, he does not think there is a problem with the food.
“I think the caf food is fine,” Cartwright said. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the caf.”
Cartwright is a student manager for UDining and said the remodel plans will accommodate more people, fixing the current overcrowding problem.
“What I’ve heard they’re going to do is make more room for more seating and kind of open the walls,” Cartwright said. “They’re going to make it so we can see outside and basically have more room for people to sit. I think that’s a really cool idea.”
The open concept of the cafeteria remodel aims to increase accessibility and capacity for students, faculty, staff and visitors.
“As long as the caf is worth it in the end, it could be useful, more effective than it is now,“ sophomore Caleb Aerian said. “More capacity means more people to come and enjoy.”
Students support the remodel of the cafeteria because of its new appeal.
“I know that there have been some complaints about food in the caf and about how it needs to be newer and stuff,” freshman Evan McQuirk said. “It will be good to enjoy some new food and some upgraded facilities.”
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