Last week I briefly touched upon the lack of food at any time on the College of Wooster campus. Let me take you on a journey back 4 years ago when I first started at the college. There were a plethora of food options during my first year. We had Lowry (which has never been good), we had Moms, a sort of fast food type space, we had Kowlton and Old Main cafes on campus and the C Store. With all of these options, there were many times that people could get food, up until 1-2am on most days. Even the food outside of campus stayed open later. Now, you’re probably thinking “Alison, we get it. There were a lot of food options at different times. What about it?”
This past year has been a battle for food at any time. One of the greatest parts about Moms, no longer operating under the Lowry renovation, was that when you were out late and needed a necessary bite to eat, you had a place to go. The community surrounding Moms specifically, was fantastic. Everyone who dined there knew the importance of this place on campus, not only for a place to go when the parties stopped on the weekend, but as a place to study or grab a snack during exams. This sense of community that Moms created was lost, however, as soon as the Lowry renovations began. Why? Because the school has tried to supplement the absence of this integral part of the COW by reintroducing Kittredge, a dining hall that was pretty much un-utilized until this year. Kittredge, with its lofty ceilings and its chandeliers, produces an ambiance that seems rather oppressive. Its ugly beige walls and the haphazardly placed dividers cutting off the C Store, make this area so distasteful that it hurts just to be in there. When Moms was around, the space was intimate, worn and felt homey. Now, students just have to sit in a “grand hall” of sorts, making the already troublesome dining experience on this campus continue to decline.
