As norovirus returns to Northwestern this quarter, campus dining halls have added supplementary precautions to remedy the spread. Food service provider Compass Group, expects to return to normal service Thursday with “enhanced cleaning practices,” according to Mary Belovich, the district marketing manager for Compass Group at NU.
“The Northwestern Dining team has implemented several temporary changes to help limit the spread of illness,” Belovich said.
Now, members of the dining staff are serving students. Silverware has also been replaced with plastic utensils, and signage advises students to use new cups when getting refills at beverage stations.
After Weinberg first-year Noor Naseer received a message from her Sargent Hall floormates that someone had thrown up in her hallway, she said many of them stayed in their dorms and avoided the area whenever possible.
After the incident, she said the recent changes are “essential” to monitoring the health of NU’s student body.
“It definitely makes me feel more safe when I go and eat in the dining hall because I just know that there’s precautions being taken to limit the spread,” Naseer said.
However, she said other students feel differently and are angered by the additional wait times.
McCormick first-year Etinosa Michael said she has often received either too much or too little food due to students’ limited autonomy in the updated arrangement.
Michael expressed concern that this style of service could lead to excess food waste.However, she said she appreciated the updated policy and efforts of the dining staff to look out for students’ well-being.
When Allison Dining Commons staff member Mary Flemming was informed of the change last Saturday, she said she put her hat on and went to work, wiping down surfaces and organizing her station for the new system.
Along with the health benefits, Flemming said the change has encouraged more students to speak with dining staff.
“This class is a little different than the classes that I’ve gotten to know over the years,” Flemming said. “Y’all quiet.”
In recent months, she explained many of her “good mornings” went unanswered by students as they hurriedly collected their food.
Now, Flemming said students have taken the new layout as an opportunity to come out of their shells.
“I had a couple of students tell me they don’t usually talk — I know they don’t — and (now they’re) like, ‘Can I tell you I like coming here when you’re here in the morning?’” Flemming said. “That broke the ice for her, and now she feels confident.”
Naseer also said she has noticed students have begun making small talk with workers as they receive their food.
For her and other NU students, this has added a sense of comfort amid the worries about norovirus.
“I feel like I’m getting to know the people that I always see their faces, but I never talked to them before,” Naseer said. “So, it’s definitely been positive in that light.”
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Bluesky: @lucaskubovchik.bsky.social
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