In an effort to enhance group dynamics and community within campus quadrangles, Student Affairs and ARAMARK Corp. have begun organizing and subsidizing quad-wide dinners during the fall semester with varying degrees of success.
The main goal of the program is to generate quad interaction and conversation by bringing together students from a different quad each Sunday evening from 6 to 7:30 p.m. for dinner and informal discussion. The meals, which take place in a sectioned-off area of The Great Hall, are a $5.95 ticket for food and engagement between students of the designated quad, faculty members and a select group of graduate students.
What makes these dinners unique is their sit-down, family-style setting, said Deb LoBiondo, assistant dean of residential life and housing services. The tables are well-adorned, the food--the same as in the rest of The Great Hall--is served in a buffet fashion and the meals come with salad, bread and dessert.
"It is a great deal and a super event," said Wannamaker Dormitory resident and sophomore Paul Novick, "I usually pay $12 every night for a meal like this."
While the dinners attract some students, the real focus is the interaction they have with their peers and the faculty. When LoBiondo and Campus Council made plans for the dinners, they came up with a theme of ethics and integrity to be the center of discussions. Graduate and professional students come from varying fields of study--from sociology to medicine--to moderate discussion. They bring in case studies from their areas of interest and present different perspectives on the issues.
Audrey Beck, a sociology graduate student who organizes the graduate student presence at the dinners, said they are trying to expand their role with the undergraduate student body, possibly to include one-on-one mentoring.
With the guidance of the graduate students, the undergraduates can talk about issues they normally would not, LoBiondo said. "[The discussions] are low-key and not structured, with no forced interaction," she said. "I think the students appreciate that."
There does not seem to be any worry that only friends will attend and negate the goal of helping students get to know other members of their quad.
"I don't think all of these people are friends," said sophomore Anthony Vitarelli, treasurer of Campus Council. "There's definite mixing. In such a small space, you can't have five groups of friends sitting alone."
The average turnout has been around 40 students, in addition to the graduate students and faculty members. So far, four quads and Trent Drive Hall have had their own dinners. With the exception of Homecoming and Fall Break weekends, a quad dinner has been scheduled each Sunday since Sept. 15. However, Craven Quadrangle, which was scheduled for Sept. 22, was forced to cancel due to a lack of interest. Moreover, the past two weeks there have been as many as 20 no-shows from students who notified their resident advisers that they would be attending.
Organizers said students may simply not know what they are missing, either because RAs and RCs are not publicizing the events or because students ignore their e-mail invitations.
Beck does not feel that this is a serious cause for concern. "It's too early to be hypercritical," she says. "If we're at this stage in a year or two then we may say it's time to move on."
While the fall semester is a test period, LoBiondo has plans to expand the program in the spring if enough interest is shown. She said it is difficult to quantify the success of the quad dinner program beyond attendance since the goals are to create interaction. Originally the plan was only to include West Campus quads. However Trent and Central Campus have already been involved. LoBiondo would like to invite the East Campus links--for example, Randolph Dormitory with the West-Edens Link--in the spring.
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