OC Debates Dining Options

By this time next year, the meal plan offered by the College may be subtly different, due to steps taken by the administration.

The College's dining service, currently under contract with Sodhexo Marriott, will be opened to new bidders in the spring. Throughout the fall, a dining consultant will be meeting with students, faculty and staff to discuss reconfiguration of the meal plan. The resulting report will become the proposal for the new bidders to work from.

"We felt that it was the appropriate time to do a thorough analysis," said Michelle Gross, Assistant Director of Residential Life and Services.

The consultant, Hank Steinberg, is the president of the Rochelle Group, a food service consulting firm that operates nationally. Steinberg will be meeting with Residential Coordinators, representatives from Oberlin Student Cooperative Association and students and faulty on the Housing and Dining Committee. Opportunities for other students to meet with Steinberg will be announced.

"He'll be here sporadically throughout the fall, and through the spring too," said Residential Life Director Kim LaFond.

The College's contract with Marriott was first signed in 1987, and continued when Marriott merged with Sodhexo in 1998. According to Gross, contracts are reviewed and renegotiated every three to five years.

"Some thought we would extend the existing contract or negotiate a new contract, but we really do feel the need to take a deeper look at our relationship with Sodhexo Marriott," said Vice President Andy Evans.

The decision to take a new look at Campus Dining Services followed a controversy over Sodhexo Marriott Service's alleged involvement with private prisons. Students last spring took part in a nation-wide protest of SMS called "Not With Our Money, People Before Profits at Campus Dining Services." Sodhexo Alliance, which holds shares in 48 percent of Sodhexo Marriott, invests in Corrections Corporation of America. SMS has publicly denied ties with the prisons, claiming they are seperate from SA.

The College does not plan to bar SMS from the bidding process. "You shouldn't throw out anyone on that alone," said Evans in regards to SMS's alleged investment in prisons for profit. "I'm not at the point where I think it's a deal-killer."

Companies wishing to bid on the contract will be given a Request For Proposal designed by the College according to Steinberg's recommendations. "The real challenge is to make sure to put in that RFP what the community wants," said Evans. "Then give the bidders some creativity to meet our needs."

Students are likely to voice their concerns about SMS to Steinberg.

"I think the company we have now should definitely go," said junior Westen McConnell.

"Marriott should go because of all that investing in prisons and other naughtiness," concurred junior Connie Brichford. "Also, I think it's pretty silly to do all these weird things to get off board. There should at least be a ten-meal plan."

Members of the administration are aware of students' complaints about CDS, specifically the difficulty of getting off board.

"There isn't any doubt that campus dining is financially dependent on all students taking part, but that doesn't mean it couldn't be reconfigured," said Dean of Students Peter Goldsmith.

"There are a few possibilities," said Evans. "I wouldn't commit to anything yet."