It was recently announced by Vice President for Campus Life Dr. Becca Barile that following Thanksgiving break, November 28th, Saga will remain open until 9pm during weekdays and until 8pm on weekends.
These extended hours were much hoped for by many athletic teams on campus, as well as the greater HWS community. This new progress in campus life was much advocated by Senior Student-Trustees, Irini Konstantinou ’23 and Zaheer Bowen ’23 and Junior Student-Trustees, Samari Brown ’24 and Jesse Whelan-Small ’24.
With that direction, Saga hours have extended for dinner times by an hour to alleviate the pressure of student-athletes and busy students who find themselves rushing into Saga thirty minutes before closing to get their food—when often some menu options have already been cleaned up for the evening.
The reactions to the recent announcement were mostly positive, but still raised mixed feelings from the student body. They say progress is still required to achieve what students truly want.
Sadie Winton ’24 mentioned “It’s great to see the school taking feedback from students and beginning to make improvements in areas of concern. That being said, I think students were hoping for an extension of more than just one hour – however it is definitely a step in the right direction!”
As for further progress, Gabriela Nieves ’23 suggests, “I think that with good intentions, I appreciate the efforts of the student trustees and the faculty to make this happen. This is a great thing for busy students like me, but the real win would be getting rid of a company that does not treat its workers in equitable ways. I think in practice, this blinds the student body from the real issue which is getting rid of Sodexo.” The Herald has written numerous articles on Sodexo in the past, focusing on work life experiences of the employees, food quality, and analysis of unethical business practices.
Student-leaders of HWS are often applauded for their contribution in working towards progress in different spaces of college life and experience. But more work needs to be done to what truly matters and ways to improve the social climate—that is goal of our current Student-Trustees.