On-campus dining controversy: Instagram account rallies for change Throughout the initial days of the winter semester, a lot has happened on Oakland University’s campus. Around Jan. 20, new Instagram profile @OUStarves caught students’ attention. “Hearing so many of our peers complain about their on-campus dining experience, we realized OU wasn’t eating, and instead, OU was starving,” anonymous @OUStarves administrators said. From humorous images to real photos submitted by students, the account reports on the campus’ food quality and culinary services. The administrators explained their goal is to help highlight student experiences so the administration and Chartwells cannot ignore complaints. “We pay tons of money for on-campus dining, and frankly, it’s not our job to fix it,” @OUStarves administrators said. “We are the consumer, not the producer.” The account gathered around 300 followers within a week of its debut, and has been receiving positive feedback from the student body in the form of followers, direct messages and engagement with their content. According to the profile administrators, the ultimate moment that contributed to the account creation was a day in which options for dinner were so limited that broccoli was the best available — and was still partly burnt. “While it wasn’t terrible, it was really demoralizing when it’s the only thing you have on your plate — besides grilled cheese you had to make yourself, and a tomato,” @ OUStarves administrators said. “It’s insufferable.” The Instagram account is the result of problems students have pointed to for a while. According to @OUStarves administrators and interviewed students, OU’s administration should address the following issues: • Dining hall hours — Halls close before classes on campus end. • Hillcrest Hall hours — Hillcrest is closed three days a week, and students are paying extra money to be in that dorm. • Food quality — Students are requesting food maintenance over weekends, and @OUStarves believes there should be student representation when Chartwells conducts quality taste testing. • Menu — Food options present limited inclusivity, few options for students with allergies and few healthy alternatives. • Meal swipes: Swipes expires every semester, even if students have put money toward unused swipes. • Golden Grizzlies pantry: The pantry is in need of more support and donations besides those made once or twice a year. • Customer service: Chartwells seems under staffed, and students feel disrespected. • Cleanliness: @OUStarves said there have been tons of
rumors and even graphic evidence of unhygienic conditions concerning food served to students. • Cost of dining halls: The cost for commuters to dine in the halls is currently $16.00. “I took out loans to afford to live on campus, and now I’m starving while having a meal plan,” an @OUStarves administrator said. Oak View Hall resident assistant Josh Kobus believes the guest swipe process is nice, but needs improvement, and that the number of swipes should not be limited with the semester swipe count. Many students have swipes left at the end of the year, which do not stack, and say it feels like a waste of money. “There are so many restrictions on the swipes, it’s pretty painful — especially with how much meal plans cost,” Kobus said. Senior student Sophie Techentin added that Oakland University requires meal plans for students in the dorms. “I’ve priced out how many meal swipes you get per semester — it is actually impossible to go through all of your swipes,” Techentin said. “They recently changed this to let you swipe more than once per meal period, but given what they have been serving, I do not think it is worth it.” For Techentin, the food quality is usually okay. Freshman Maggie Quinn also said her overall dining experience has been generally unproblematic, aside from a few inconsistencies. However, both highlight specific bad occurrences related to the food preparation. “One time, I found plastic wrap in my mac and cheese,” Techentin said. “Mold in the eggs? Sure. Chicken that wasn’t cooked all the way, that made me incredibly sick? Check.” “There have been a few times where I’ve noticed items that have been undercooked or raw, or end up being completely unappetizing,” Quinn said. Aside from quality, Quinn highlighted how these unappetizing conditions can lead students not to eat at all. Fellow student D’Zariah Hopkins echoed these concerns, pointing to another aspect of the food issue: accessibility. She says she must walk from Hillcrest to Vandenberg three times a day in order to eat three meals on the weekend. With the current weather conditions, she feels it is unfair to have to walk so far while paying more than Vandenberg students. “I know of a number of students without vehicles who don’t eat sometimes because of this issue,” Hopkins said. “I also know some students don’t have funds to access food outside of what’s provided on campus.” A solution she proposes is opening Hillcrest on Friday and