Forbes and Whitman will both serve Saturday meals

“A number of the cost-reduction initiatives exceeded our projections,” Director of Dining Services Stu Orefice said in an e-mail, citing “the tray-free dining program and modifications to our purchasing program.”

As a result of budget cuts last year, the Forbes dining hall was closed on Saturdays in the fall semester, while Whitman dining hall was closed on Saturdays in the spring semester. The amount of money saved by closing one dining hall made up “less than 5 percent of the overall Dining Services budget reduction target,” which matched the University’s projections, Orefice said. But the other two measures saved more money than expected.

“It is a very good thing that we can phase this policy out after only one year,” Christian Wildberg, who served as Forbes College master until the end of last year, said in an e-mail. “Forbes students were commendably good-natured about it because they understood what was at stake,” he noted.

Forbes and Whitman were selected for the closures last year because each college uses its own kitchen, unlike the Rockefeller-Mathey and Butler-Wilson dining halls. Last year’s change “was from the beginning looked at as a temporary policy, forced upon us by the all-too-well-known financial realities the University faced,” Wildberg added.

“We rebid one of our largest food contracts and were able to work with a [Group Purchasing Organization] to improve our purchasing power and, therefore, reduce our costs,” Assistant Vice President for Facilities Chad Klaus explained in an e-mail, elaborating on the other two measures.

Though the tray-free initiative’s original intent was to increase sustainability, the program actually led to a “reduction in food costs from actual quantities consumed,” Klaus added.

For students in Forbes and Whitman, the restoration of Saturday meal service means the end of a significant inconvenience.

“It definitely was a pain, especially in the winter,” Forbes resident Margaret Owensby ’13 said of the walk to Whitman.

The closure of Whitman dining hall last year was “a bit of an inconvenience,” said Alex Kraus ’12, a Whitman resident. Kraus said he usually didn’t eat brunch last spring and ate dinner out on Saturday nights.

Steven Fuchs ’13, another Forbes resident, echoed Owensby’s sentiments.

“I appreciate that both dining halls are open,” he said. “It’s nice to know that on a Saturday morning I can wake up and walk downstairs and not have to get my raincoat to walk across campus.”

— Sean Wu contributed reporting.