Wrapping up Dining Services food vendor presentations Thursday was Sodexo, the current company in charge of bringing new and innovative ways of dining to Kent State. The series was created to gather student opinions on which vendor should be the new business partner of Dining Services.

“We’re on a journey, and in that journey we start with an end goal in mind,” Kent State food service worker Margaret Koroghlian said.

Heading the final presentation was Rich Roldan, the director of Dining Services at Kent State.

“We’re going to strive to be the healthiest campus by 2021,” Roldan said.

If Kent State decides to partner with Sodexo, they plan to “enhance” the current dining halls. They would do this with the addition of a Panera to Kent Market 2 and relocating the current Subway in the Hub to the lower level, next to Quaker Steak & Lube.

Sodexo would also remove the current Bean Scene coffee stand in the library and replace it with a Tree City Coffee shop, as a way of “utilizing a local company that’s right here in Kent,” Roldan said.

In addition to Tree City Coffee, Sodexo plans to put a Starbucks in the lounge area of Eastway Hall and continue into the bowling alley, which they plan to expand and add food options.

In the architecture building, there are plans for a “Lounge 12,” an area where students can purchase and cook microwavable meals and have a multitude of grab-and-go options to choose from.

Roldan said the idea behind the “Lounge 12,” was to open up more food options for the students who spend a lot of time in the architecture building, as well as for the students who attend classes in the buildings nearby.

As a healthy initiative, Roldan said Sodexo plans to bring healthier options to all food facilities and introduce apps that will encourage students to go for fruits and vegetables, instead of other unhealthier options.

Madeline Zupko is a general assignment reporter, contact her at [email protected].