A loophole has been found. The Student Government Associate is excited to announce the reinstatement of Tortilla Fresca on a limited meal plan which is to be back on the menu as soon as today, if not by Tuesday.
On the first day of the semester many students were outraged to find Tortilla Fresca had been taken off the menu without warning. Since then, SGA has been fighting to get the meal plan back to students.
It has been a long couple of weeks, but last night SGA President, Ryan Bridges, met with the University’s Vice President of Finance and Operations, Dana Gibson, where she announced the good word.
“She found out from Aramark that there was a loophole with the proposal to the Board of regents, an issue where we don’t actually have to go to the board of regents with this,” SGA President, Ryan Bridges said. “I thought they were calling me to say it wasn’t approved, but she was like [yes] we got this all passed. It’s back on meal plan.”
Although Bridges did not know the specifics, he explained the general idea of the opportunity at hand.
“The program originally written for meal plans had a code which was still saved in the system, so they were able to reinstate it,” Bridges said.
Tortilla Fresca would be on a limited meal plan and must be checked for technical issues before an official date is released.
“Basically they were able to put most of the stuff that was on meal plan before, such as burritos and quesadillas, back on meal plan; but it is limited,” Bridges said. “It should be up by today, but they don’t want to put a date on it in case there are some unforeseen issues, but absolute latest would be Tuesday.”
Based on the conversations with SGA, Bridges said Aramark did what they thought was best for students.
“The biggest thing they got back from their surveys is that students wanted more value and they were going off of that. So Aramark is not the bad guy, they did what they thought was best for students and again were very willing to work with us,” Bridges said.
Students are encouraged by SGA to fill out the SH dining surveys received in their inbox and emails.
“When students said they wanted more value, that was open to interpretation and that was how Aramark decided that it would be more value, if we allocated those resources to Belvin,” Bridges said. “So students actually need to fill out these surveys, Aramark doesn’t get near enough surveys back.”
An unnamed committee is currently in the works to deal with issues related to meal plans and dining plans. The committee will be a way for SGA to get students’ suggestions directly to Aramark in the future.
Between SGA, Dining Services, and the university, students will be able to once again enjoy one more place to eat meal plan on campus.
“It was the effort of SGA as a whole and we are excited to have the meal plan back,” Bridges said. “I am ecstatic that they decided to do this, I’m happy they are showing this measure of goodwill to us, and they are showing a willingness to work with students on this.”