The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 76, No. 24, Ed. 1 Friday, April 14, 1989 Page: 7 of 20
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THE RICE THRESHER FRIDAY. APRIL 14, 1989 7
Cafeteria-style dinners raise
concerns about the college system
Do cafeteria-style dinners undermine the college system?
by Ami Bajaj
This year, several colleges have
moved away from the traditional
family-style dinners of the past.
Along with this move towards cafete-
ria-style dinners, several masters
have begun to question the future of
the college system.
Some masters are concerned that
this trend will undermine the college
system. Although the issue was on
the agenda at last night's meeting of
the Committee of Masters and Presi-
dents, the committee does not in-
tend to make a final decision on the
matter, Chair and Hanszen College
Master Peter Waldman said.
"It's a public issue. Nothing will
be imposed, and it's an issue that
needs to be discussed," Waldman
said.
Will Rice College Master Edward
Doughtie added, "We hope to per-
suade them to change. I do think it
hurts the system, especially when
people from one college leave to eat
at another college on family-style
nights. Of course, the other problem
..is getting people to stay on campus
whether it is family-style or not."
Will Rice and Hanszen Colleges
have family-style dinners twice a
week, and Brown College has a
family-style dinner once a week.
Why Family Style?
Doughtie said he believes the
family-style dinners are an integral
part of conveying a sense of college
unity. "It's the notion where there is
set time where everyone in the col-
lege can get together... to cultivate
a sense of psychological unity, a
sense of community," he said.
"It's hard to get everyone to-
gether at one time to make an-
nouncements. It varies from college
to college. At the colleges where
they have freshman waiting, they
claim that freshmen get to know the
other members of the college better.
Maybe they do. There has to be
some other system for everyone to
get together," Doughtie added.
However, not all masters hold the
same opinion as Doughtie. Brown
College Master John Brelsford said,
"I think because we're still in the
process of going co-ed and we're still
in transition that we're doing a lot of
things to beef up college unity. We
had a good attendence at Beer-Bike.
I was around for Beer-Bike last year,
and people were more excited and
involved this year.
"We have more people at cafete-
ria style dinners than family-style
dinners. The students have shown
that they prefer cafeteria style by
"I would like to think
that the college
system is more than
a meal."
—John Brelsford
their attendence," Brelsford said.
Brown sophomore Kelly Few
disagreed. "If we don't have family-
style anymore, we may as well not
have a commons. It's like a cafeteria
because people from other colleges
come to eat on cafeteria-style nights.
... I think it's sad," she said.
Because this year is Brelsford's
first year as Brown master, and be-
cause Brown has had cafeteria-style
dinners three nights a week all year,
Brelsford said he is unable to say
whether cafeteria-style dinners have
hurt college unity.
"I'm not saying it wouldn't be
better to have family-style dinners.
It's just that I have nothing with
which to compare," he added.
Lovett is one of the colleges that
has a freshman waiting system.
Dominguez said that this system
helped upperclassmen meet fresh-
men, and that without the family
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< irorxflotai I 'nnrrsity is an i
/ Dpporiunily/alfii
r emplatmtnt and a
style dinners this opportunity would
not exist
Why Cafeteria Style?
Colleges have chosen to eat cafe-
teria-style more often than family-
style dinners because of time con-
straints, increased selection, and the
convenience of cafeteria-style din-
ners.
Brown freshman Chuck Gailey
complained that since many stu-
dents have commitments in the eve-
nings, it is difficult to eat a family-
style meal all of the time.
"At Brown, on nights when they
have family-style, you have to go
down at 5:30 to get a table and then
you can't get food except for a salad
until 6:00. I do a lot with the [Rice
Players] and have to be there at 6:00.
You can't get take-out until 6:00 ei-
ther. So, some nights, I go without,"
he said.
"I don't think it hurts college
cohesiveness. Now we only have one
family-style meal a week and we used
to have two. There are more people
at the cafeteria-style meal than at the
family-style meal," Gailey added.
WRC freshman Charles Walker
said he disliked family-style dinners
because of the poor selection of food.
"I like the atmosphere of family-style
dinners but I like the selection of the
cafeteria-style dinners. ... If they
improved the selection of the family-
style dinners, it would be the best of
both worlds."
Student Opinions
Although WRC, Brown, and
Hanszen Colleges have chosen to
have cafeteria-style dinners for most
of the week, other colleges have
chosen not to. Students at these col-
leges said they believe family-style
dining is an important part of the
college system.
Students enjoy a traditional family-style meal at Baker College.
Baker senior Wes McDermott
said he believes the future of the
family-style system rests on attitudes
within the colleges. "It depends on
the attitude in the college because
for some reason the people at Baker
don't mind even though it definitely
takes more time."
Lovett President Mari Domin-
guez agreed. "We sort of like it
[family-style dinner]. We don't want
it to go away because Rice prides
itself on the residential college sys-
tem, and if you take away the family-
style dinners, it takes away from the
collcge system."
Some Possibilities
In order to encourage students to
eat on-campus and to eat in their
colleges for family-style meals, Food
and Housing has begun offering the
choice of two entrees instead of one.
Doughtie said he hopes the two
entrees during family-style dinners
will encourage more students to stay
for dinner on campus. "I hope it will
help since they've given more choice
in family-style. I'm not sure other
than to try to persuade them the
value of the college system. There
may be some way of working in an
incentive in the meal plan.... 1 don't
really know," he said.
WRC junior Darryl Stephens said
a number of other factors contrib-
uted to the success of the family-style
meals as well. "I don't think that you
can say any particular style of dinner
helps or hurts the college system.
People's attitudes, the way the food
is served, and the speed with which it
is served play a big part," he said.
Brelsford said, "Two things arc
going to happen if all of the colleges
have family-style dining—it's either
going to work or the college system
is going to go away. Everyone re-
gards the family-style meal as the last
vestige of the college system. I would
like to think that the college system
is more than a meal."
Waldman agreed, although he
said he believed the family-style din-
ner still added a lot to the college.
"Eating is not the only thing we do in
common in the college system.
There is Beer-Bike and plays. It isn't
the only thing in common, but it is
part of the basic routine, and it's time
spent together which is a lost oppor-
tunity under the cafeteria-style sys-
tem."
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McGarrity, Patrick & Sendek, Joel. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 76, No. 24, Ed. 1 Friday, April 14, 1989, newspaper, April 14, 1989; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245720/m1/7/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.