Science Center Cafe Adds New Late-night Hours

Continued from page 5 center of campus have prompted concerns and disappointment from some students and staff.

Yolyana Rodriguez, the afternoon supervisor of the Mammoth Market, said that she expected less foot traffic at the Science Center Cafe than she had seen at Schwemm’s: “I don't see people walking here from Hitchcock, Garmin, Drew.”

In a message to The Student, Zane Khiry ’25 lamented the new, more out-of-the-way location for late-night food. “I’m really upset that they decided to move it and replace it with a merch store, especially given the fact that we can all just buy merch online now,” he wrote.

Flueckiger attributed the change to the fact that the college is pressed for space at the moment, forcing difficult decisions. He also said that the impetus for the reduced weekend services is the popularity of the free — and, he said, more equitable — late night option at Val Wednesday through Friday nights.

Flueckiger said he wanted students to remember that “we’re constantly thinking about how we can do better.” He said that the hours at the Science Center, and the retail options available to students generally, are never set in stone.

“The students are voting with their AC dollars,” he said. “We want to meet the students where they are at.”

Complaints surrounding the change go beyond the accessibility of late-night snacks, though.

A student employee, who requested to remain anonymous, reported a reduction in the number of available working hours to them following the changes. Whereas the student had in past semesters relied on their shifts at Schwemm’s to support themself and send money home to their family, they have found fewer and shorter shifts available at the Science Center Cafe.

Flueckiger said in an inter- view with The Student that the changes would not affect the number of workers on Dining Services’ payroll and that the number of hours available to those workers would return to their former levels once shifts at the apparel store at Schwemm’s became available.

Nevertheless, the student employee told The Student that the situation was stressful. “Before, I always knew that they would give me as many hours as I asked for, and now that's not a reality for me anymore,” they said. “There’s all this uncertainty in background, on top of a typical course load.”

More generally, the student reported that the fast change had created uncertainty for all of the employees — student and non-student alike — at Schwemm’s and the Science Center. Longtime employees have had to quickly adapt to new work schedules after having settled into stable routines for years, they said. They also said that some less experienced student workers, who learned the ropes at Schwemm’s last semester, have had to adapt to a new menu and kitchen at the Science Center Cafe with little preparation.

“Now we're also responsible for knowing an entire new arsenal of recipes,” they said.

Rodriguez struck a different tone. “The addition of the items from Schwemm’s has been a smooth transition,” she said. “The quality of the food is actually better than what we were producing over at Schwemms.”

She did acknowledge that the new location seemed to be getting less traffic through the first week of operations, but also said that it was hard to tell due to the cold weather and it being the start of the semester.

The Science Center Cae is now open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. The hours for the merchandise store at Schwemm’s are yet to be determined.