It’s no secret that JCU’s food options have left students dissatisfied time and time again. Even with the recent renovation to the Schott Dining Hall and the switch to Parkhurst Dining, students have mixed reviews about the dining experience.

In addition, this scrutiny is not just limited to the JCU community. According to The Princeton Review, John Carroll ranks 21st on a list of the worst college food in the nation. With so many negative reviews, reforms to the dining program were bound to occur. Some of these concerns were addressed with the newest addition to JCU’s dining program: an expanded list of locations that will take dining dollars next academic year.

Starting in the fall 2024 semester, Pizzaz, Boaz and Dave’s Cosmic Subs, all located at the front of campus on Fairmount Circle, will all accept dining dollars. There are still conversations happening with the other food options at the front of campus regarding dining dollars. Dr. Lisa Brown Cornelius, JCU’s interim dean of Student Affairs, was able to share some more information on this new expanded flexibility for dining dollar use. “A consistent piece of feedback from students is the desire for more flexibility in the type of dining options that we provide. That is always top of mind: what is important to the students,” Cornelius said.

In addition to listening to students, the new junior living requirements for next year were taken into account. “Next fall will be the first year that juniors are a part of the requirement [for] university-sponsored housing, so we wanted to recognize and provide some more options for them because we know that this is a shift for [them]. We want to continue to add to the value of the residential experience, so it seemed like a good opportunity to explore what those options could be as we’re changing the face of what our housing looks like but also changing how we look at the different levels of independence that rising juniors have,” Cornelius said.

Cornelius also gave credit to Parkhurst, JCU’s food provider, as they began the conversations with the Fairmount restaurants during the middle of the fall semester. “This really is a partnership between Parkhurst, which is our dining provider, and the restaurants. John Carroll and Parkhurst are great partners so we’re excited that other folks want to partner with Parkhurst and ultimately with us to give students more options.”

The other new change to the dining program that should be noted is the changes that will be made to the junior and senior meal plan. Recognizing the expansion of residency, Brown Cornelius shared that the new plan will include 5 meal swipes per week and 400 dining dollars per semester.

Some rising junior students were asked what they think about this new change and positive answers were given. Thomas Lunt ‘26 said that it’s “going to be amazing having somewhere to eat on the weekends.”

Sarah Hastings ‘26, a resident assistant in Murphy Hall, shared “I think that expanding the use of dining dollars is going to be great for the community. This is going to keep students around campus but also gives more variety for dining options, which I surmise will be popular among the students. With the expansion of apartment living, it will also be a convenient option for the upperclassmen living near the options on Fairmount Circle.”

Paige Smith ‘26 shared her excitement to have options outside of the dining hall saying, “it will be a great addition to have more access to food outside of Parkhurst.”

Riley Woodruff ‘26, a resident assistant in Hamlin Hall, stated “John Carroll is all about community building. Being an RA, I am super excited for these options to be added on! This will be perfect and allow for a stronger connection throughout the dorm buildings. It also provides an easier walk to those living in the new apartments and another more unique option for food.”

With this new flexibility in JCU’s meal plan, hopefully students will be more satisfied with the overall dining experience. Especially with the addition of the new apartments, it will be exciting to see this change implemented and hopefully expand to more restaurants.