Students want more meal plan dollars in Union food court

There are 2,700 residential students that participate in the campus dining meal plan at Southern University, but there are some students that are displeased with the declining balance for purchases in the food court.
Ninety five percent of residential students use a meal plan that allows them to eat 14 meals a week in either Dunn or Mayberry cafeterias and $100 in the Union food court a semester.
Many students like Manadra Wilson, a junior political science major from Milwaukee, agrees she wants a meal plan that offers more money to spend in the food court.
“I think you should be able to set your fee and divide it how you want,” Wilson said. “You should be able to choose your meal plan. I don’t want it to come out of my pocket but out of the tuition I paid,” said Wilson.
The eating costs that students pay provide money for running the dining areas as well as roofs, freezers and supplies.
“We had to increase the food court hours and maintain Mayberry, Dunn cafeterias and the Food Court while providing additional food. Students don’t just pay for food but for the running of the facilities. The cost students pay for the meal plan pays for everything,” said Paul Butler, director of food service.
Last year Residential Dining paid over $180,000 for renovations, not including maintenance.
“Maybe if the food was a little bit cheaper, students could feel free and at home. One hundred dollars is fine if I didn’t have to spend $6 every time I went in there,” said Walter Lyons, sophomore biology major from Alexandria. “The only way students would be able to have more money is if meal plan rates increase to accommodate more money to spend in the food court.”
Despite the complaints by students, the prices are no higher than competitors, according to a union food services manager.
In a price comparison of eating three meals a day, students would pay $15 a day or $1,350 a semester. According to Butler, on-campus students pay $2.58 per meal, or $860 a semester.
ARAMARK manages SU’s Campus Dining, along with 390 other institutions in the United States. Among them in Louisiana are the University of New Orleans, Southeastern Louisiana, Grambling State, Louisiana College, Louisiana Tech, University of Louisiana at Monroe and McNeese State.