In the wake of the dining plan overhaul instated at the end of last semester, Bucknell has continued to make changes to the experience that students can expect from their on-campus Bison Kitchen dining circumstances. A joint email announcement from vice president for student affairs Moe McGuinness and vice president for finance & administration Dan Hungerford was sent out towards the end of the summer, detailing changes, big and small, to dining facilities across the campus.
McGuinness said of the changes that “Bucknell has worked closely with Chartwell’s,” the current dining provider with whom Bucknell signed a ten-year contract in 2024, “to ensure that our students have access to a wide variety of food options that cater to diverse tastes and dietary needs.” She and her colleagues are “committed to continually working together to explore new ideas and initiatives to further enhance the dining experience, and to better meet the evolving needs of our students.”
These changes have been in the works since last fall, according to Dana Mims, associate vice president of business services. “Changes such as new local partnerships [and ones that] involved new equipment or more logistics began last spring,” she recalls, “and [work] continued through the summer.”
Bostwick Cafeteria (“the Caf”) has received both new seating arrangements and new food station options. Seating at booths has been incorporated throughout the space, and “counter seating” on bar-stool-style chairs at taller tables are available towards the front of the area. “Students shared that the space felt too much like a traditional cafeteria and didn’t have enough seating for smaller groups or those having a meal by themselves,” says Mims, explaining the change. “By introducing these new seating styles like booths, smaller tables and counter top tables it creates a more comfortable, flexible dining environment. It also gives students a chance to experience the changes before considering a larger change or update to the space.”
Though these seating changes were requested by students, the execution of the seating in practice has been, so far, “worse for accessibility” for students like Clara Henry ’27, who notes that the area is difficult to navigate and the chairs themselves are unpleasant for her physical concerns.
Also in the Caf are two reimagined stations providing gluten-free and vegan/vegetarian offerings: the Avoiding Gluten Nook and Rooted, respectively. Binders listing all ingredients included in offered foods are now available in the Caf and the Bison, and the new dining providers are more deliberately labeling served dishes, though Henry has “noticed that the labeling of the food is missing most of the time.” Bella Galioto ’27, who frequents the vegan options in both the Caf and the Bison, has found that there aren’t a lot of choices at either. “Quality at the Caf was better last year,” she comments. “The Bison quality is about the same, but everything’s at a higher price. […] Meals at the Bison are expensive, and my dining plan [of 3 swipes/week and 300 dining dollars] doesn’t have enough dining dollars for a semester.”
The Caf has also gained the exclusive status of offering the only Mexican food on campus at “Bucky’s Burritos & Bowls,” since the Bison’s Copperhead Jack’s has been shuttered. “I don’t fully know how the Bison restaurants function and when they get new ones, but it’s very disappointing that we lost a whole category of food in the Bison,” says Trevor Seymour ’27. “Mexican food, which was the best food option on campus, was swapped for a mediocre burger place with hot sandwiches as their main pull.” But his main concern is allergy-centric, in the Bison and the Caf. “One of my friends doesn’t even want to eat [at the Bison at all] because of a deadly allergy to sesame seeds; they can’t risk cross-contamination,” Seymour reflects, as cross-contamination control is notably poor. “The Caf has seemingly gotten better, but the quality varies so wildly day by day. The [new availability of] the burrito/bowl [is] nice, but I sincerely hope [the Caf] don’t lose the cultural variety that [the converted burrito/bowl station] previously provided.”
The Bison has, in place of Copperhead Jack’s, gained Yella’s, a sandwich chain based in New Jersey. Yella’s has also absorbed the Bison’s americana offerings, with a menu encompassing the chain’s typical sandwiches and subs as well as the burgers, fries, onion rings and milkshakes Bucknell diners have come to expect from the Bison’s typical menu. ‘ray & Co, in the space next to Yella’s, is another new station, offering made-to-order acai bowls. The Wrap’d station (serving wraps, as the name suggests) remains the same as last academic year.
At 7th Street Cafe, the menu has been expanded to include locally-sourced ice cream from Old Mill Creamery, in Cowan, and bagels from All-Star Bagels, on Market Street in Lewisburg.
Revolution Noodle, the station located at the MacDonald Commons, now offers made-to-order sushi and has expanded their menu to include bao buns and dumplings.
At this time, no specifics on dining meal costs changing in response to these updated dining options are available. Mims explains that, as meal plans are priced based on a variety of factors, “our dining program model is designed to continually evolve in response to student feedback to ensure the best possible dining experience,” with pricing not necessarily at the forefront of those considerations.
Additional suggestions or comments for Bucknell’s dining team can be directed to the feedback form on the Bison Kitchen website. McGuinness has announced that a “My Voice” survey will be launched in October to collect student input on what national brand they’d like to see come to campus. Students interested in sharing their feedback through direct committee work can reach out to [email protected] to join the Student Dining and Food Allergy committees.
