Off-campus food brands such as Chick-fil-A and Pizza Hut are unlikely to be on campus next year due to lack of space, according to Craig Allen, the director of Housing and Residence Life.
“There are simply no new dining locations for next year,” Allen said.
Graham McMillan, student body presidential candidate in the upcoming Student Government Association election, said that part of his campaign platform is “to continue the initiative of bringing brand foods on campus.”
McMillan, who is also the current SGA vice president for external affairs, said he set up a meeting two weeks ago with the dining services committee and Sodexo, the food services provider at the university, to explore the options of food branding on campus.
Sodexo has an exclusive food rights contract pertaining to the Brown-Lupton University Union, according to Lisa Albert, the university's director of communications.
In other words, any type of off-campus food brand must go through Sodexo in order for it to be served in the BLUU.
McMillan said he personally would like to see food brands brought to campus, but that space is a problem.
“The biggest problem is room,” McMillan said. “When you look at some of the pros and cons, it might be better for Sodexo to do their own kinds of brand food.”
Sodexo has already worked with TCU to expand some of the dinning options on campus by offering their own style of branded food.
“Sodexo has always been cooperative with TCU, getting student input and feedback,” Allen said. “We just have to carefully evaluate what students want and what we can provide.”
Despite the difficulties of bringing a major food brand to campus next year, there is the possibility of a new dining hall being built near the newly renovated Worth Hills, Dining Services Committee Chairman Tim Klein said.
Klein said this might become an opportunity for private dinning companies to move on campus in the future.
However, Klein also said this is just a possibility and it is still too soon to determine what would happen in the near future.
Jordan Rubio contributed to this report.
