By Delaney Newhouse | Focus Editor
Brooks Great Hall, home to Tuesday Teas and Sunday community dinners, will close its doors on May 14 after serving meals to the Baylor community since 2007.
While it will no longer function as a campus dining hall, the Great Hall will continue to serve as a community space.
“This decision allows Baylor to maximize the Great Hall footprint for future student meeting and event space as well as other campus and community needs,” said Baylor spokesperson Lori Fogleman in an email.
In a statement sent to residents of Brooks College, Fogleman said that while the Great Hall is one of Baylor’s four full-service dining halls, it only provides 10% of campus dining. Usage of Brooks’ Dining Hall has been declining for years, according to Fogleman.
This is not the first time Baylor has closed a dining hall in recent years. After the opening of East Village Dining Hall in 2013, administration considered closing either Memorial Dining Hall or the cafeteria then situated in Ruth Collins Hall.
Jeff Doyle, then the dean for student learning and engagement, told the Baylor Lariat in March 2012 that consolidating dining halls could help cut down on costs.
“The dining folks will say we can do it for much cheaper and provide better food if you let us consolidate,” he told the Lariat.
Dining employees, including student employees, will continue to be employed at Baylor by Chartwells Higher Education. Fogleman said that employees would be transitioned to work in other dining halls around campus.
“The dedicated Chartwells Higher Education employees who have faithfully served the Brooks community will be assigned to other dining halls on campus,” Fogleman said via email. “They will not lose their jobs or benefits, and they will remain a vital part of the Baylor community. This includes student workers, who will not lose their employment.”
The Brooks Sunday evening dinners, a longstanding tradition at Brooks College, will continue “as a catered, family meal,” according to Fogleman’s statement. Other traditions, like the Tri-College Tournament, are also likely to continue.
Austin junior Adam Celauro resides in Brooks Flats, and admitted that he has not regularly eaten in Brooks Great Hall for some time.
“I feel like it has less options than other areas,” he said.
Despite not being a member of Brooks College, Celauro noted that its weekly Sunday dinner was one of its most important traditions, and said that so long as the weekly meal continues, “the Hogwarts space is not going away.” He suggested possible use of the Great Hall as a common area or group study space.
“I think it will be better now that the area can be used for different events if it wants to be,” he said.
