Dining halls have long been a part of the college experience. As the University continues to grow, the influx of students means more will need food. As attendance grows at dining halls, the University must meet demand for the expansion 
of students.

Attendance numbers provided by Kristina Hopton-Jones, director of University Dining Services, show a dominant winner when it comes to 
dining hall attendance.

For the month of January, Lakeside Dining Hall had 54,252 action card swipes. Following Lakeside was Fresh Food Company with 38,572, Burke Dining Hall with 32,196, and Bryant Dining Hall with 10,307 meal 
plan swipes.

Saundra Reeves, manager of Lakeside Dining, said her entire team at Lakeside tries to do their best for students.

“Lakeside cares about its students and customers,” she said. “We try to listen to the students and provide a 
variety of food choices for them.”

Currently, only 9,134 students have meal plans, which allow them to eat at dining halls around campus.

A correlation between the residence halls and attendance in dining halls is expected. Large numbers of underclassmen possess meal plans and live in dorms in the surrounding area of Lakeside Dining Hall, such as Presidential Village, Riverside, Ridgecrest, Paty and Lakeside Residential Halls.

Besides dining halls, students have the option to eat at a variety of restaurants on campus such as Wendy’s 
or Subway.

Susie Rhodes, a freshman majoring in business, said she only visits Lakeside because it is close to her residence.

“I think the food here at Lakeside is fine, but they could switch it up,” she said. “I usually only come here or the Ferguson Student Center for 
other options.”

Chris Beacham, a junior majoring in psychology, said he prefers options other than the dining halls and didn’t purchase a meal plan.

“I stay away from the dining halls,” he said. “Fresh Foods is the only place that seems to be healthy to me. Every once in a while I will go to Subway in the Ferg, but I mostly get food off-campus.”