Southern Methodist University may be thought of as one of the most prominent private universities in Texas, yet its dining services leave much to be desired.
Umphrey Lee, described by SMU’s dining services as a “lavish all-you-care-to-eat menu with bountiful variety” seems to run short of its claims by most students’ standards. Unfortunately, I never truly saw the so-called variety, considering I got the same turkey sandwich every time I attended, and my roommate, Bren Hering, a sophomore at SMU, agrees. Bren describes Umphrey Lee’s food as “bland and greasy” while furthermore stating, “Eating at Umphrey Lee makes me feel like a pig eating out of a feeding trough.”
In addition, though Umphrey Lee’s food looks unappetizing, the fact that it may also be harmful is a huge problem for the students. For example, according to the University Health Inspector’s records, Umphrey Lee’s sandwich station was shutdown on Sep. 30, 2005 after a surprise examination of the food lines, due to the extremely high temperature of the lunch meats.
As the health inspectors told the Umphrey Lee sandwich artists that their ham and turkey was above the unsafe temperature of 41 degrees, all of the surrounding students cringed in disgust. I can only imagine if I had been there that day, since the one item I thought was safe, the turkey sandwich, was declared unsanitary before my very eyes.
In addition to Umphrey Lee, SMU’s dining Web site describes the other dining options that SMU offers such as Mac’s Place, a smaller and equally as gross version of Umphrey Lee, Chick-fil-A, Subway, and Montague’s Deli. Yet, this Web site also claims that The Market, Midnight Exchange, Snack Exchange, located in the Fincher Building in the Cox School of Business, act as legitimate lunch options. Unfortunately, I refuse to believe that any starving college student would be willing to accept a pack of Cheez-its and a few Chip’s Ahoy cookies as a fulfilling meal.
Kathleen Auffenberg, a sophomore at SMU concurs. Auffenberg states, “If I ever missed dinner at Mac’s place, which was really often since it closed so early, I was forced to live off of chips and salsa, or a Snickers. I was always hungry again in just a couple of hours.”
In contrast, the dining services at both Texas Christian University and Baylor University, equally comparable Texas private universities, are amplified tenfold of those offered at SMU. For example, TCU offers eight campus restaurants, including a really awesome Mongolian Wok restaurant called Edens and even a sit-down restaurant titled Pond Street Grill, all available as part of their dining plan.
Furthermore, Baylor University declares 11 meal plan restaurants, including a Chili’s Too, a smaller version of the delicious Chili’s restaurants, a food court that houses Chick-fil-A, Blimpee, Bene Pizza, Homezone, Freshens, Starbucks, and Shipley’s Donuts, and three main dining halls titled Collins, Penland and Memorial.
The quality of food at Baylor also supersedes the taste and comfort of cuisine offered at SMU. For example, after I visited Baylor and experienced only the typical dining hall, I was blown away by the quality they offered. The food was absolutely fabulous, and I was even tempted by this factor to consider Baylor as one of my highly rated options.
This shows us that SMU better step up its dining services soon, or we may lose some potential students, based on dining services alone.
Last of all, the hours of operation prove to be a major predicament for many SMU students starving for a meal. While some of us luck out with the perfect schedule we have always dreamed of, most students eat at various times, depending on when they can fit it into their schedules.
The fact that all of the dining services at SMU are not open on weekends and some not even late at night furthermore complicated the situation. Does SMU think that on campus students don’t eat on the weekends?
In opposition, both TCU and Baylor have dining halls that are open on the weekends, though the hours may be shorter. TCU’s Main dining hall even stays open until 11 p.m. on Sunday through Friday, while closing at 8 p.m. on Saturday. These hours of operation are drastically better than those offered by SMU.
In conclusion, while SMU claims to offer the best of the south in nearly every category, its dining plan should not be included. I believe that to obtain more prospective students, and satisfy current students, the dining services at SMU should not only expand the hours of operation and the choices of cuisine it offers, but should look at the other similar private universities in the area to formulate a meal plan similar in style and taste. Hopefully then, SMU students will be able to eat happy and healthy, with the top-notch quality they deserve.
Abbie Steffler is a sophomore CCPA major. She may be contaced at [email protected].
