Michigan Tech’s Memorial Union Building (MUB) has been the campus’s center for auxiliary services since its inception in 1952. It houses the offices and meeting spaces of the Undergraduate Student Government and Student Leadership and Involvement. The ground floor is the most visited by students, containing the food court and the MUB Commons. The space is used by students grabbing a bite to eat or meeting with a study group, and its soundscape is filled with the scrapes and sizzles of the kitchen of Brkfst & Co. on one side of the room and the clicks and clatters of the billiards tables on the other.
In the middle of the seating area is a whiteboard, placed on an easel by the MUB building managers during the week of the October recess. “What would make you want to hang out in the MUB more often?” it asks, prompting dozens of responses from passersby. “We’re just looking to find out what the students want, trying to get some ideas,” says Matt Lean, assistant manager of the MUB. “One of our goals is to bring some student life and engagement back to the MUB,” says Trevor Mills, Lean’s co-assistant manager. They cite the building’s former bowling alley as a sign of the student activity that was once more prevalent.
The input garnered on the whiteboard forms a pattern. Students suggest a variety of activities, such as dance parties and live sports broadcasting, but the resounding message is that they seek reform of the dining options at the MUB. “Lower food prices,” circled several times, pointed to by several arrows, and with eight tallies for agreement written around it, was the most popular message. Another writing tossed out the idea of a value menu, and another asked for the return to previous portion sizes.
Data shows why students want prices lowered. According to archived receipts, the price of a four-piece chicken tenders combo has increased by 31% between the end of last semester and the return of students in the fall. Even including fries and a fountain drink, many students believe that asking over $11 for the meal isn’t justified. “Frankly, I feel like I’m paying a lot more than what I feel like I should be paying,” says one student eating in the Commons.
The building management didn’t seem to see the outcry for more attainable pricing coming. “It turns out a lot of the comments just were for the food in the building,” says Mills, “Which, you know, that’s the voice of the students.” While concerned about the affordability of food, the MUB’s management is not directly responsible for setting prices. That burden is on the shoulders of Chartwells, Michigan Tech’s partner for dining services on campus. “We’re going to share the data with them for sure,” says Mills, “To what level they can change things, I don’t know.”
Mills and Lean are committed to facilitating activities that students want. “We’re the MUB liaison for the MUB Board,” Mills points out, saying that ideas they receive will be brought to the board during brainstorming. As for the dining suggestions, more work will be needed to get students closer to Chartwells. One last comment written on the whiteboard in the commons reads, “Lower prices, better wages, and more respect toward workers.”
