It's dinnertime on a weekday evening, and undergraduates around campus are scrambling for food. Freshmen head to the Marketplace, while most upperclassmen choose from a variety of options on West Campus.
The difference in dining styles is clear and will likely remain that way even as housing officials try to replicate the East Campus experience with the new residential life plan for West. They often cite the Marketplace's board plan as a key factor in creating first-year unity, but the retail model has continued to dominate the rest of the University.
Administrators disagree about whether the retail plan contradicts the current vision for student life, but some prefer a dining plan that focuses more on community.
"I think everywhere we want a situation where dining is part of a community experience. Right now, it's less than it should be. It's too aggressive, too retail," said William Chafe, vice provost for undergraduate education.
The East dining plan--with its prepaid 12 Marketplace meals per week--was created after the campus became all-freshman in fall 1995. The move toward a diverse retail plan for West began much earlier, as the need for dining options outgrew traditional eateries like The Great Hall.
With the arrival of ARAMARK Corp. this summer, the campus now has 31 vendors with contracts for 41 different food operations.
"What I say to the vendors is, OYou have this pot of money. Go after it,'" said Joe Pietrantoni, associate vice president for auxiliary services. "They have to be good to get your money. Who ever heard of 31 vendors on a college campus?"
Indeed, most undergraduates seem to favor the large variety of eating choices on West.
Far more students protest the lack of options at the Marketplace than suggest more community-based dining on West, said senior Jason Freedman, co-chair of the Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee.
"From a student perspective, every student should have the choice of where to eat," Freedman said. "It's better for students to eat together than alone, but they don't all have to be in the same building at the same time."
Such hurried lifestyles can detract from students' quality of life, said Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs. He said a fast-paced approach to dining has the same negative consequences for students' lives as it does for a family that rarely eats dinner together. At the same time, he noted, the phenomenon is a product of a bustling research university that also serves food to staff, faculty members and graduate and professional students.
"The reality of student life on this campus is that students run very different lives," Moneta said. "At a high level, I would love to see a lot more community, people taking time to relax for a meal, but I don't see it as an easy thing to change."
Besides the nature of students' lives, a lack of large dining facilities on West discourages a board plan for upperclassmen.
The University and ARAMARK are planning to renovate The Great Hall area, but a major expansion is unlikely, said Executive Vice President Tallman Trask.
Rather than create a board plan for West, Moneta said a difference can be made with smaller changes, like special events or more money for lunch with professors.
There is one dorm, Trent Drive Hall, that has its own eatery, and administrators often cite the presence of Grace's Cafe as a selling point to students. But they also hope to discontinue Trent as housing soon, and some question if the restaurant adds to the dorm's sense of community.
"I don't think that Grace's fulfilled the mission it was supposed to. More times than not, I see students come to get food there and then bring the containers back to their rooms," said John Thompson, faculty-in-residence in Trent and chair of the history department.
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