Pop quiz: You're a second semester freshman, and you're hungry. Where would you like to eat? If your answer was "the Marketplace," you're probably in the minority.
After several years of complaints by students and discussion on the part of campus dining officials, Duke Dining Services appears ready to add another food vendor to East Campus in addition to the Marketplace and Trinity Cafe. The leading contender is Subway, but the choice has by no means been solidified.
While Duke Dining Services is correct in responding to the demand for diversification of eating options on East Campus, Subway is not the best solution to the problem.
Though students constantly complain about the tedium associated with being beholden to the Marketplace for the majority of their meals, the venue serves several important functions that are indispensible to the success of the all first-year campus experience. The Marketplace, with its mandatory meal plan, forces first-year students to interact. By eating with your peers during several meals each week, a sense of community builds. And, despite the sometimes repetitious nature of meal offerings, the eatery does offer a wide range of choices for breakfast, brunch and dinner. The Marketplace could be better, but serves its purpose, and it's not going anywhere.
As a result, any additional vendors should play off the Marketplace's strengths and weaknesses--essentially offering what the Marketplace doesn't. There is demand for quality late-night dining options, with a menu more diverse than simply sandwiches and pizza--both of which are available on Ninth Street or from several vendors in the Merchants on Points program.
Subway is a success on West Campus because it is one of many options. But the only thing on its menu is sandwiches. The Marketplace already offers quality sandwiches during lunch hours, and sandwiches are not the most popular late-night snack option. Therefore, dining officials should search for an alternative vendor, one which offers a menu of quick snacks, preferably healthy, in addition to a full service kitchen. Something like the Loop, with a diverse menu, would be a better fit for East Campus.
Right now, the only major deficiency in the first-year experience is dining. The Marketplace fills a valuable niche, but it cannot stand alone.
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