Campus dining receives multiple upgrades as students await new dining hall this fall

Liberty Dining and Sodexo, the university’s dining services provider, have made several changes this academic year that reflect the continued emphasis that Liberty has placed on improving the student dining experience.

In recent years, Liberty Dining has received a number of accolades for its continued efforts to accommodate students’ needs. This year, Liberty was awarded an A+ rating for campus food and placed No. 3 out of 27 schools in Virginia and No. 19 in the country by Niche.com.

The most recent upgrades were waiting for students when they returned from Spring Break. In response to customer surveys and employee feedback, the university added ordering kiosks to its Hey Cow venue in DeMoss Hall to reduce wait time, completed a makeover for SubConnection in the Tilley Student Center for a cleaner and more updated look that included a new pickup station. Also in the Tilley, the Hungry Herbivore has been replaced with Roadrunner, a Mexican food truck, due to customer feedback.

Prior to the start of the spring semester, Liberty added another Costa Coffee machine to Montview Student Union. This machine joins two others that were added on campus in the fall and offers students the opportunity to order coffee, expressos, and lattes with Flames Cash. Other Fall 2022 dining changes included The Nook, breakfast options at SubConnection, and lid sealers for cups, as well as improvements to the individual options featured at the Food Court at Reber-Thomas.

Opening next semester, the new Reber-Thomas Dining Hall, currently under construction, will provide students with even more dining options. It will feature a large seating area, both inside and outside of the building. The two-story, 120,000-square-foot facility will have a peak capacity of 2,900 seats, with an estimated 25 food stations containing various meal options for students.

The building is expected to be turned over to the dining staff on May 15, providing time to move equipment and furnishings into it and train employees before classes begin in the fall.

Louis Cambeletta, vice president of auxiliary services for Liberty, has led several tours of the facility for students from introduction to construction classes and the Liberty Student Government Association.

“(The students) were impressed by the size and the amount of seating space to be able to interact with friends,” Cambeletta said. “The three outside seating areas were a big hit as well with all of the students that have toured the space.  They were also impressed with the grand staircase that leads down to the lower-level seating area, they said it reminded them of the staircase in the movie ‘Titanic.’”