Prospective college students tend to share the same priorities when it comes to choosing the school that’s right for them. Do the academic programs meet their needs? How new are the residence halls? Is campus a safe place? One thing that’s often forgotten is an important one: food. Undergraduates, long used to home cooked meals and groceries that seemingly replenish on their own, are sometimes jolted into reality the first time they eat at a dining hall.
Grambling State University, a historically black public institution in Louisiana, has plenty going for it. Top notch professors, Division I sports teams and a beautiful rural campus are first on the list. The one area it fails to satisfy hungry Tigers in is dining. One former scholar who told us five things she wish she knew before attending even touched on this vaguely. Whether you’re a foodie or just, you know, someone who likes to enjoy a nourishing meal several times a day, then consider this your well timed warning.
Grambling State undergraduate headcount hovers just under 5,000 a modest number, yes, but not the smallest we’ve seen by any means. Some schools with similar figures have multiple dining halls, which offer accessibility and less lines. GSU has but one location, McCall Dining Hall. The buffet style setup disappoints students with its total lack of variety. Seriously, the menu really never changes. Day in and day out you’ll find classic yet unhealthy staples like pizza, hamburgers and fried chicken. Students don’t just attribute their digestive woes to the over-greased selection either. Many say that the ingredients don’t always seem fresh, and that includes everything from vegetables to meats. The hours also aren’t very forgiving of busy collegiate schedules; you can see them here.
So if you’ve just gotten out of an evening class and your stomach is rumbling, where do you go? You go to Tiger Express, the school’s food court which ups the ante as far as fattening foods are concerned. Here you’ll find fast food favorites such as Burger King, Panda Express and Taco Bell. Consider it the multicultural affair you wish your not exactly inexpensive meal plan was affording you. There’s also a convenience store on campus called C3. It’s good for those random snack cravings, but forget about finding a balanced meal.
If you’re interested in Grambling State University, check out our story on Campus Safety.
At other universities, students are upset that the dining hall doesn’t give them a forum to propose new meals, comment on quality or talk about anything else food related. Grambling State, despite being lackluster with culinary services, actually gives out surveys and asks for feedback! This just makes Tigers even more jaded, because they say they continually offer constructive criticism that isn’t taken into account. To us, Grambling State is the kind of school who relies on a third party culinary company (the controversial Aramark in this case), and then just steps back so they don’t have to deal with it.
With meal plans costing as much as they do, diversity and high quality ingredients shouldn’t have to be fought for. They should be expected. If food and nutrition is very important to you, find a university that boasts a more innovative program, where meals are always revolving and the actual consumers have a say in what they’re eating. The body is like a well-oiled machine, and you’ll tackle homework, social life and even sleeping with straight A’s if you put the right foods into it.
Ryan James is a ’13 alumnus of Ohio University’s College of Arts & Sciences with a bachelor’s degree in writing and media. He currently works as a copywriter for a Fortune 500 e-commerce corporation based in Columbus, OH.