Campus Dining Facing Mounting Pressure as Freshman Class Increases

The newly built Johnson Commons, seemingly ready for opening, remains closed for the time being.

Next August, the University of Mississippi will welcome a new freshman class into their small, serene campus; however, this incoming freshman class will be unlike any before it in terms of size. Ole Miss has had growing trend of incoming freshmen, and the class of 2018 is expected to continue to exceed . As exciting as this may seem, Ole Miss’s rapidly growing population has demanded many changes around campus, ranging from the building of the contemporary dorms on campus last year, to the recent building of a parking garage to facilitate students that commute to campus.

However, one aspect of campus life that still appears to be a little bit behind are the on campus dining options available to students. The university offers two dining halls that are always available to the public, but only seven fast food stores that offer food convenient for students on the go. Of those seven, five are located in the Union. This guarantees that students will be standing in line during the lunch rush and pose the risk of running late for class while waiting to eat. In some locations, such as the Papa John’s in Minor Hall, this wait occurs even when there is not a line to stand in; Amber Fulton, a sophomore accounting major, expressed frustration on the fifth of May when she had to wait twice as a result of an employee making the wrong food.

“It becomes irritating when I try and get a quick snack between finals, but there is nothing ready to be served” said Fulton. “The fact that I had to wait all over again just made the experience worse.”

Christian Robinson, a Community Assistant for Ole Miss, feels quite differently:

The "JC" that Robinson mentions refers to the Johnson Commons, one of the dining halls on campus that was expected to open at the beginning of the spring semester, though this has not been the case (This missed deadline is not the first time that the Johnson Commons construction has fallen behind).

With a large group of hungry mouths to feed next fall, there is high expectations for dining to be in order; the repercussions of having limited dining locations with an even larger student population could prove to be disastrous for the University of Mississippi.