After half a semester with only one dining hall on campus, students have had enough.
Interhall, a student-run organization that focuses on resident life issues, is petitioning the University to re-open Darnall Dining Hall. Darnall closed at the end of the last academic year.
Kevin Parvaresh (CAS ‘09), president of the Darnall Hall community council, started the petition because of concerns about the burden having only one dining location places on students.
“Leo’s has become very crowded since the closing of the Darnall cafeteria, and it is a large inconvenience for residents who either live or have classes on the northern side of campus,” Parvaresh said.
Since being approved by Interhall’s Student Advocacy Committee last month, the petition has spread across the Georgetown community. It has made its way to dorms from Henle to the Southwest Quadrangle, receiving about 150 signatures along the way.
But according to Eamonn Carr (CAS ‘06), Secretary of Housing and Facilities for Georgetown University Student Association, closing Darnall was in the best interest of students and University officials alike.
“The decision to alter operations in Darnall Dining Hall was based upon a variety of factors, including indications made by students calling for a greater variety of on-campus food offerings and the financial prospects of the university,” Carr said.
University spokesperson Julie Bataille confirmed that students were involved in the decision to close Darnall, which she said became obsolete with the opening of Leo J. O’Donovan’s in 2003.
“The decision to close the Darnall dining hall last year was made in close consultation with the Student Food Committee and GUSA,” she said. “The Darnall facility was not economically efficient to continue as a full service dining operation.”
But some students say Leo’s alone does not provide adequate service.
“The long lines often force me to skip lunch because I can’t even get a Grab ‘n Go,” Denisa Albu (SFS ‘08) said. “Staying in line would cause me to be late for my classes. We spend so much money on meal plans and it shouldn’t be like this???we should be able to have a high quality dining experience for the money we pay.”
According to Bataille, Georgetown has no plans to re-open a full-fledged dining hall in Darnall. But whatever ends up filling the space, she said, students will be involved in the decision-making process.
Parvaresh said Interhall’s Student Advocacy Committee has yet to hear from administrators about the discussions of the potential options for the space, however.
“So far, Interhall has had limited contact with the University concerning the fate of the Darnall cafeteria space,” Parvaresh said. “The discussion seems to be happening behind closed doors, unbeknownst to the majority of students.”
