Duke Student Government representatives heard Wednesday from junior Sunny Kantha, vice president of athletics and campus services, about plans to expand healthy late-night eating options on campus.
At DSG's meeting Wednesday night, Kantha said Saladelia Cafe in von der Heyden Pavilion and the Bella Union in McClendon Tower will be open until 3 a.m. Monday through Friday for one month as a test run for a possible expansion.
"We received a lot of complaints [from] people who are looking for healthy late-night eating, and since Saladelia and the Bella Union have wraps and various other healthy beverages, it makes sense to keep these two open," Kantha told The Chronicle.
The Bella Union is currently open until midnight every day, and Saladelia Cafe serves until midnight five days a week. Quenchers, another healthy food option, will not be included in the pilot but also is a target for the changes, Kantha said.
He added that the test run will begin two weeks before Fall Break and end two weeks afterward, a period of midterm-exam time when many students will be seeking late-night food.
"Ideally, we can keep [the new hours] going for the rest of the semester and rest of the year, but it's all contingent on the [test] run," Kantha told DSG members.
The success of the expansion will be determined by the amount of revenue the two restaurants generate, he later told The Chronicle.
Director of Dining Services Jim Wulforst has ensured that the restaurants will be receiving more stock so they can serve during later hours, Kantha added.
Freshman senators, who were elected Tuesday and sworn in earlier in the meeting, said they did not know where Saledelia Cafe or the Bella Union were located, raising concern about how the expansion would benefit freshmen.
Kantha said the test run will determine whether the later hours would be expanded to other dining areas.
"If we find that this is a hit, then we can consider keeping Trinity Cafe open later because it's the analogue [to Saladelia Cafe and the Bella Union] over on East Campus," he said.
In other business:
Vice President for Student Affairs Lucy McKinstry, a sophomore, updated representatives on the Women's Mentoring Network-a program currently consisting of 85 sophomore, junior and senior females who are to serve as guides to freshman girls. The pilot program for this year, involving dorm discussions beginning next week and two dinners per semester, has a budget of $10,000 from the Women's Center, McKinstry said.
Representatives elected five freshmen and eight upperclassmen to the Student Organization Finance Committee.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.