Kinky Lizard by Lizzie Griesedieck
It seems that Georgetown Dining Services may have finally taken a hint. With half of the seating space closed, weekend mealtimes have lately come to resemble a circus. Finding an empty table during brunch hours is no small feat, and some unlucky students even resort to eating while standing. O’Donovan Hall announced this week that it will begin providing seating on the top floor on Saturdays and Sundays. While that is the right first step, the push to boost seating should not be constrained to weekends.
Many schools with undergraduate student bodies similar in size to Georgetown’s contain more than one dining hall. Brown — with a population of 5,700 undergraduates — boasts two dining halls and several on-campus cafes. Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, with only about 2,300 students, also features two dining halls.
While the university does not necessarily have the space or resources to expand its dining services to a new location, throwing open the top-floor doors on Friday night, as well as on Saturday and Sunday, would be a quick fix to weekend overcrowding. Spreading weekend diners over two floors would also help prevent tightly packed students from becoming a sitting fire hazard.
In addition, peak weekday mealtimes are chaotic. Swarms of hungry students descend upon the dining hall for lunch beginning around noon and dinner starting at six. Unless you stake out your table territory before those high-traffic periods begin, you can almost count on circling the building several times before snagging a seat. Leo’s could easily relieve some of the frenzy by placing more tables in the empty space in the middle of the top floor.
Granted, one cannot rag on Leo’s without also recognizing everything it does right. The quality and variety of food is impressive for a university dining hall, and have inspired many Leo’s devotees to sing its praises. Recent culinary experiments include smoothies, hydration stations and sushi.
Likewise, Leo’s clearly makes a conscious effort to enable students to maintain healthy diets. The dining hall’s management employs a nutritionist and offers an extensive selection of vegetarian and vegan entrees. Furthermore, student feedback is constantly encouraged (even if not provided) whether through the online comment form or through participation on the Student Food Committee.
Unfortunately, Leo’s positive features are often overshadowed by the constant, frustrating battle with the lack of seating. By opening the top floor this weekend, Leo’s is demonstrating that it is open to addressing the problem. But limiting the expansion of seating capacity to Saturday and Sunday will not solve the problem. Unless Leo’s commits itself to alleviating congestion every day of the week, diners will continue the struggle to find empty seats in a sea of full tables.
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