LSU Dining announced Tuesday that meals will now be served by dining hall attendants due to coronavirus concerns. Additionally, students at The 5 were given plastic sporks instead of reusable utensils on the first day of the changes.
Agricultural science freshman Madison Plaisance said the new protocol lacks efficiency.
“They need to assign staff to certain stations, because I stood by a station for 10 minutes waiting for someone to get me a biscuit,” Plaisance said.
Marketing and Guest Experience Manager Cheramie Gosnell said there were a few mishaps during the transition.
“When you have this type of change, it takes a little time to work out the kinks,” Gosnell said. “We added extra staff to the shifts to help with speed of service.”
Gosnell also said extra staffing and larger workloads are not a burden on dining hall staff. They are following regular protocol and ensuring staff has adequate breaks during the day.
Some students feel comforted by the dining hall’s disease prevention efforts, such as public relations freshman Sasha Bourne.
“It gives me peace of mind knowing they’re trying to minimize the spread of germs,” Bourne said.
Others thought the new methods were unnecessary and discouraged socialization in the dining halls, including theatre freshman Kylle Poiencot.
“They mean well, but it does feel a little over the top,” Poiencot said. “[The dining hall] feels less like a place to hang out and more of a place to hurry up, get food, and don’t get sick.”
The changes were precautionary measures, as there are not yet any confirmed coronavirus cases on campus.
In an email sent by LSU Division of Strategic Communications on Wednesday, the University announced that in the event of campus closure, students living on campus who cannot leave would be accommodated with housing and meals. Even if dining halls aren’t operating, meals would be provided to all students on campus, according to the email.
Plaisance suggested the dining hall should continue normal operations but place a sign outside, telling students to ‘eat at their own risk.’ She said the new methods will do little to prevent coronavirus spread, as the disease could equally affect students and dining hall staff.
“The workers themselves could be infected and give it to everyone,” Plaisance said.
Gosnell said LSU Dining is continuing to follow the same sick policies they have always had in place, including mandating workers to stay home when they are sick. LSU Dining has also doubled-down on their sanitation processes.
“Sanitation is at the front of our minds every day,” Gosnell said. “Managers and supervisors are following through with protocol to ensure all safety and sanitation guidelines are being followed.”
