The Hickey Dining Hall
Photo courtesy of Chris Doody
BY LILY PETERSON, NEWS EDITOR
The Food Committee at St. Bonaventure University has been making changes to improve the meals of students and faculty that eat at on-campus dining locations.
Francis Zaklukiewicz, a junior political science and pre-law major, is one of the students that started the Food Committee because he said he noticed a general dissatisfaction with on-campus dining services among students and faculty.
“The Food Committee was started by myself and Joseph Billone,” said Zaklukiewicz. “We decided that it was something that was necessary to have on campus because a lot of students were not pleased with how the food services have been so far.”
As the new Student Government Association (SGA) president, Zaklukiewicz acts as a liaison between students, the SGA and Aramark, the food provider on campus, to create the best possible dining options for everyone involved.
“My role on the Food Committee is basically hearing out student concerns and voicing those concerns in SGA meetings and to Aramark,” said Zaklukiewicz. “We work on finding solutions that not only will benefit the students, but can also be seamlessly implemented into the workers’ daily calendars.”
Zaklukiewicz said that the Food Committee takes input from students, faculty and family members that eat on campus so that everyone’s needs can be met.
“The main goal [of the food committee] is to make improvements necessary to strive for the greatest possible food services we can possibly have,” said Zaklukiewicz.
Increasing food representation for those with allergies and dietary restrictions is another goal of the Food Committee.
“We don’t feel that having a dietary restriction should be putting a constraint on what options are available for students to eat,” said Zaklukiewicz. “We’ve found ways to make it easier for [students with food allergies] to be comfortable eating.”
The Food Committee has introduced more options for those with special dietary requirements, especially for those that eat a gluten-free diet and want to avoid cross-contamination.
“We’ve started having more packaged items that were transported to the Hickey [Dining Hall],” said Zaklukiewicz. “A lot of them include more gluten-free desserts.”
Zaklukiewicz said that in addition to accommodating the physical health of students, the Food Committee is also dedicated to advocating for their mental health.
“We have introduced many foods of native origins,” said Zaklukiewicz. “A lot of the people that eat in the dining hall are international students, and we can help make them feel more like they’re at home through food.”
So far this year, Zaklukiewicz said that they held “Italian Night” in the Hickey, in which various types of traditional Italian dishes were served, including authentic pastas and sandwiches with classic Italian sauces and meats.
Multiple advancements can already be seen in the Hickey.
“We actually took the initiative of building a whole new spice rack in the dining hall which now has a large amount of sauces and spices that we didn’t have before,” said Zaklukiewicz.
In addition to spices, Zaklukiewicz said that the Food Committee has added açai to the Hickey, which many students have come to love from Freshens, the on-campus dining location in Francis Hall. Located where the vegan ice cream station is, students can now scoop their own açai bowls and top it with fresh fruit.
“Last year, there were a lot of concerns about whether the fruit was actually fresh,” said Zaklukiewicz. “But this year, [Hickey employees] are on top of refilling that fruit section all the time.”
Zaklukiewicz said that all of these changes reflect and will continue to rely on the opinions of the student body. It is important that they either come to the Food Committee and give their opinion or become a member themselves.
“ Any student on this campus that feels like they want to have a voice can sit on the committee and express their concerns or the concerns of their peers,” said Zaklukiewicz. “Any student can join the Food Committee if they want.”
Zaklukiewicz said that when students approach him with a problem in the dining hall, he offers them the opportunity to give advice on how they would like to see the issue resolved.
“The only way to make a change is to have a solution,” said Zaklukiewicz.
The Food Committee is in the process of developing new meal plans for the 2026-2027 school year. These meal plans offer new options for on and off campus residents.
Students in Devereux, Doyle, Robinson, Falconio, Shay, Loughlen and Francis Halls are required to choose from one of the following plans:
- Premium all- access: costs $4,435; unlimited swipes into the Hickey; $600 dining dollars; 4 meal exchanges per day to Café La Verna, Yella’s, Freshens or the Rathskeller; 10 guest meals per semester.
- All- access: costs $4,185; unlimited swipes into the Hickey; $300 dining dollars; 2 meal exchanges to Freshens or the Rathskeller; 5 guest meals per semester.
- Base all- access: costs $3,985; unlimited swipes into the Hickey; $100 dining dollars; 1 meal exchange per day to Freshens or the Rathskellar; 2 guest meals per semester.
Students living in Townhouse and Garden Apartments, off-campus residents and commuting students have the option to purchase any of the previously mentioned plans or the following plans:
- Block 80: costs $1,335; use up to 80 swipes as a Hickey meal swipe or a meal exchange to Freshens or Rathskellar; $500 dining dollars; no guest meals
- Block 50: costs $1,027; use up to 50 swipes as a Hickey meal swipe or a meal exchange to Freshens or Rathskellar; $500 dining dollars; no guest meals
- Block 25: costs $540; use up to 25 swipes as a Hickey meal swipe or a meal exchange to Freshens or Rathskellar; $250 dining dollars; no guest meals
- All dining dollars 600: costs $600; $600 dining dollars
For students living in on-campus residence halls, the premium all-access plan will be the default option. For students living in apartments on and off campus and commuter students, the Block 80 plan will be the default option.
Students must manually change their meal plan in the student portal if they would prefer a different option.
More information about meal plans and dining options can be found on https://sbu.mydininghub.com/en.
