Café à la cart moved from Moudy Building
By Bill Morrison
Staff Reporter

Prior to the first sandwich being sold, the Café à la cart was moved in and out of Moudy Building South’s green room before a single person was served.

Dean of the College of Communications William Slater said Café à la cart was removed because some of the radio-TV-film faculty expressed concern the food service would disrupt classes. Slater said he liked the idea of the kiosk because there is no place on the north side of campus for students to get food.

“I talked to Richard (Flores) a few months ago and we all thought it was a good idea,” Slater said. “(It closed) as the result of fear from some radio-TV-film faculty that classes in 164 would be disrupted.”

Flores, general manager of Sodexho Campus Services, said though the green room is a good location because it already had the power, network and space necessary for the kiosk, he understood why faculty members were opposed to the location.

“It’s not our space,” Flores said. “The faculty’s main concern is to make sure you have an environment you can concentrate in and do your studies, and we respect that.”

Roger Cooper, radio-TV-film chairman, said having Café à la cart in the green room would be a definite disruption to classes. He said there is already a noise problem with the vending machines and students congregating in the green room and that Café à la carte would make it worse.

“I am adamantly opposed to it,” Cooper said. “I think (the noise) would be a lot bigger problem if there was an à la cart in the green room.”

Flores said Sodexho Campus Services planned to move Café à la cart out of the hall way between Dan Rogers Hall and Charles Tandy Hall once Sub Connection opened in the Sarah and Steve Smith Entrepreneur’s Hall. He said the Moudy Buildings seemed to be the best location and he contacted Slater to see about putting Café à la cart into Moudy Building South.

“Dean Slater was very much a proponent of getting the service for the students in (the green room),” Flores said.

Cooper said he is not opposed to having a dining service in Moudy, just the location that was chosen.

“I understand and support student desire to have (Café) à la carte over in Moudy,” Cooper said. “I have been most adamant, not about (Café) à la cart per se, it’s just about putting it right there. Room 164 is a renovated theater and all the noise would really hurt the aesthetics.”

Ambyr Davis, a senior radio-TV-film major, said it would be great to have a closer place to get something to eat. The only problem, Davis said, is that a lot of students study in the green room and the increased traffic would disrupt them.

“I would definitely like to see something over here, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to put it in the green room,” Davis said. “Right before a test that room is packed. The seats are filled and students (are) on the floor studying two hours before a test. If there were people hanging out there getting food it would be a distraction.”

Nena Madonia, a sophomore radio-TV-film major, said she would like to have Café à la cart here, but said noise from the green room is already a distraction for room 164.
“It would be fantastic to have food (in Moudy Building South), but I don’t think the green room is appropriate,” Madonia said.

Karen Holcomb, facilities administrator for the M.J. Neeley School of Business, said that despite concerns about the disruption the original Café à la cart would cause, once it was open it couldn’t have gone better.

w.c.morrison@tcu.edu