The weekend late-night dining operation at the Commons in the Mayer Campus Center has rolled back its closing time from 2 a.m. to 1 a.m. in an apparent attempt to alleviate the stress placed on the facility and Tufts Dining Services (TUDS) employees by generally unruly and inebriated students in search of food.
Anyone who has been to late night dining at the campus center has seen the chaos that can ensue when large numbers of students fresh from parties around campus are all in search of late night snacks. Students regularly neglect respect for TUDS employees and campus center facilities.
Oftentimes, the mess will roll over into the following morning, with uneaten food and trash strewn about the bottom floor of the campus center. This shows an unacceptable level of disrespect for Tufts employees and facilities. TUDS employees are already working late hours to accommodate the demand for an on-campus late-night dining option and should not have to put up with negligence and irresponsibility from Tufts students at a time when they would much rather be at home.
The lack of respect for TUDS employees and the general disrepair caused to the campus center as a result of students obtaining late night food is reprehensible. Students must take responsibility for themselves and treat late night dining as the new privilege that it is -- and realize that it can be taken away.
Furthermore, if Tufts students are serious about obtaining an on-campus bar, they should look at the late night dining pilot program as a trial run. If Tufts decides students can't handle congregating in the campus center at midnight, the university certainly would not be open to the addition of a campus bar.
The addition of an on-campus late-night dining option has provided Tufts students with an invaluable place to congregate in the center of campus. Students now have a common place to eat, socialize and hang out on weekend nights other than fraternity basements and residence hall common rooms.
Tufts Dining Services might try to alleviate some of the discord at late night dining by managing the line through the normal Commons checkout area, instead of sending students in and out of the same entryway, which currently leads to rowdy crowds forming by the central stairwell.
Tufts students must learn to act responsibly and with respect when utilizing the late-night dining services at the campus center. The campus center has become a great space for students to congregate on weekend nights and we should work to maintain it.
