Select on-campus dining locations to remain open to finish semester

Liberty University’s Dining Services will offer a variety of food options to students who have decided to return to live on campus for the remainder of the 2020 Spring semester while adhering to COVID-19 health stipulations recommended by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The Food Court at Reber-Thomas and 11 other campus dining services will remain open, including but not limited to Doc’s Diner on East Campus, Garbonzo, Chick-Fil-A, Dunkin Donuts, SubConnection, and Starbucks.

“For the dining hall, the process will be that students will be let in and will be able to grab a box or however many they feel they need and they will then go through half of a server,” Duke Davis, District Manager for Sodexo, said. “The dining hall will give them access to pizza and burgers as well as a main entry for the day and an Asian food option.”

Davis said that the Reber-Thomas will still be offering food options for students with gluten allergies and has created a second entrance from the back of the building for students who would rather take a container of pre-packaged food rather than creating their own.

Students have expressed their gratitude to Sodexo for supplying a vast variety of options.

“I’m really grateful that we still have a lot of options to eat on campus because not all of us have a lot of other options,” sophomore Leah Hussey said. “I’m glad that there is variety and that we don’t just have the (Reber-Thomas).”

“Outside of not being able to let people sit down in our facilities, I think we are well equipped to handle any crowd we may have,” Davis said.

Liberty Vice President of Auxiliary Services Louis Cambeletta said that once warmer weather arrives, students will have access to more outdoor seating locations so that they are not confined to their dorm rooms for meals.

“We’re trying to continue food service and give people a choice,” Cambeletta said. “We are trying to do business as usual from a dining perspective, even though there are a few caveats in there because we recognize that take-out only is not business as usual.”

Even though every dining option is take-out, Liberty values students’ desire to choose their type of food.

“As a freshman I don’t really have the option to go drive around for food because I don’t have a car,” said freshman Henrikue Marinon, from Brazil. “Being on campus feels great because we are not just confined to going to the (Reber-Thomas). We have options.”

Through this challenging season of life, Liberty is reminding faculty and students why they have been ranked in the top five in the world for collegiate dining services.