Few things are as important to students as food and when and where they can get it. That’s why many students are disgruntled about the new changes to the Waves Café and La Brea bakery hours in conjunction with the recent HAWC renovation. Dining services plunge forward with the new hours, confident that the changes will boost efficiency, student activity, and late-night sales.
Once the HAWC opens its convenience store and café within the next week, the Caf will begin closing at 8 p.m. during the week, and 7 p.m. during the weekend. Additionally, La Brea will be consistently closing at 4 p.m..
“La Brea closing at 4 p.m. is ridiculous,” sophomore Karre Lawson said. “Whenever I got sick of the same food in the Caf, I’d always go to La Brea, but now I don’t have that option.”
But Sodexo marketing manager Sarah Dhillon expressed that there will be a variety of food with the updated menu at the HAWC. After utilizing student representatives last spring to test food, a committee concluded on a menu that included small appetizer plates like sliders, hot wings, and flatbread pizzas.
“We know that it is important for students to have a late-night dining location,” Dhillon wrote in an email. “Since the HAWC is centrally located on campus and closer to the residential units, it made sense to us, Dining Services and Student Affairs, to have the HAWC meet those needs.”
Despite the HAWC facelift and new menu, some students living on campus estimate that the projected appetizer food won’t cut it for their dinner needs.
“I don’t think it’s right that we now have less dinner options and shorter hours in the Caf. If you get out of class or a meeting at 9, good luck getting real dinner on campus,” sophomore Conrad Nichols said. “It’s food services, not just a way to make money off of students.”
According to Dhillon, Dining Services’ biannual evaluations led Sodexo to decrease night hours of La Brea bakery and the Caf and reallocate resources to the HAWC.
Yet some students are concerned about groups of students that would normally inhabit the Caf at night.
“They really need to keep the Caf open late, at least 10, because there are so many Greek groups, clubs and athletic teams eat after events or meetings,” said junior Bethany Bennick.
Under the new schedule, Dhillon hopes that the Caf area will be more open to students and groups now that dining will close earlier. The customary Intercultural Affairs-organized themed dinners will continue, with live entertainment that won’t necessarily end when the Caf closes.
Some students like sophomore Ilene Rosas are disgruntled that the shift of hours seems to be contrary to the basic college student lifestyle.
“It’s our campus, our food, so they should be reliant on our schedule. What college kids always eat dinner at normal hours?” Rosas said.
Sodexo employee John Renteria encourages students to look at the new HAWC like a “new toy” like he does.
“It will be a whole new atmosphere for students, give it a month or so to settle in,” Renteria said.
Dhillon hopes that students will offer feedback to help foster communication between the Pepperdine community and Dining Services. ”
