Claire Montgomery
This year’s first-years and sophomores have never experienced Kittredge Dining Hall (Kitt) operating as one of the main dining halls on campus. Perhaps they have gone there for Soup & Bread, or maybe they moved in early and have dined there when Lowry was closed for a couple days before class started. But they haven’t experienced the glory of Cheesy Thursdays or Quesadilla Mondays. Beyond that, the juniors only experienced Kitt for a semester and a half and seniors for three and a half semesters. Because only half of the student body is even aware that Kitt used to be a functioning dining hall, I worry that as soon as the students that knew about Kitt in the first place graduate, that it will not be reinstituted as a dining hall in the future. It was announced on Feb. 21, 2018 that due to a staff shortage, Kitt would be closing its doors, with its last day in operation being March 7, 2018. But now that it’s been close to a year and a half, I wonder just how temporary this decision is.
On a campus that has limited dining hall food options, reopening Kitt would offer more variety for students at mealtimes. Moreover, Kitt was initially used as a space with more vegetarian and vegan options than Lowry. According to several Voice articles published in 2012 and 2013, Kitt was imagined as a space that would offer more vegetarian options and locally sourced foods. Not only should Kitt be reopened to offer more variety to students, but for those of us that eat a largely plant-based diet, Kitt would be a welcomed option. When I first toured the College, I explicitly remember my tour guide telling my tour group about how Kitt offered more vegan and vegetarian options. I am sad that this is no longer the case.
Kitt offered more than just different food options. The staff members at Kitt were ones I felt like I could connect to personally. While we still get to interact with the same staff members that worked at Kitt, it is not on the same level. Al is just as nice as ever, but due to the high demand of Lowry at mealtimes, students are unable to have the same staff-student interactions that we were in Kitt. Staff members must now be more concerned with swiping the swarm of students in at busy hours in a timely manner than taking the time to look at our names and greet us personally. That is not to say that the staff at Lowry are not kind and friendly and generous people. It’s just that swiping into Kitt offered more of a chance for a face-to-face interaction and engendered more conversation between students and staff because there was more time and space in which to make that connection.
Reopening Kitt will help decrease the overcrowding of Lowry during busy mealtimes, especially during lunch and dinner. When students have only an hour in which to grab lunch, they should not have to wait in line for 15 minutes at Basics just to grab their meal. Sometimes, I am unable to find an empty table during those chronically busy times. Having another option in Kitt will allow for students to have more space when eating meals.
I miss the waffle makers from Kitt. I will always remember swiping in one day and hearing the group of boys exclaim in front of me, “Wow! Look at this! We should come to Kitt more often!” and then seeing the huge grin of the staff worker that was helping serve the food. I miss the calm environment as juxtaposed with the environment of Lowry.
I understand that there are current issues with staffing at the College and specifically in all aspects of Campus Dining, and I am sympathetic. I just hope that Kitt will not be forgotten once the College gains the ability to hire more staff members. Even though Kitt as a dining hall wasn’t as popular as Lowry, it was an underutilized Wooster gem, and I hope we see its reintroduction soon.