By George Gallardo, Staff Reporter
The Grab ‘n’ Go on the ground floor of Welch Hall was one of my favorite spots to pick up a quick bite before going to my next class. So imagine my surprise at the start of this semester when I found the door was locked and the space was empty – no cash register, no refrigerators display cases, no tables and chairs, and most definitely no snacks.
I wondered where the store had gone, but soon saw a sign saying it had moved to the Loker Student Union. Why didn’t the university tell me about this?
I wasn’t the only student who looked confused after looking inside the space, so I scrolled through my inbox to see whether the university had emailed us about the relocation. No such luck.
Just around the corner, I noticed that the Wells Fargo ATM was also gone. Surely, there must have been some announcement about that, since the cashier’s window in the Welch Hall courtyard only takes cash. Nope, nothing in the inbox again.
Toro Auxiliary Partners is tasked with developing revenue strategies for CSUDH. I reached out to executive director Tranitra Avery, who told me in an email that the university was unable to send out any notice regarding the Grab ‘n’ Go or the ATM.
“We had asked Wells Fargo to delay the removal until a replacement could be identified, in order to minimize disruption for students, faculty and staff,” Avery said. “Unfortunately, Wells Fargo did not respond to our request until after the unit was removed, so we were unable to communicate this in advance.”
After some more digging, I learned that Urban Mosaic Food, Co., the on-campus dining services provider, announced last month that the Grab ‘n’ Go was now the Snack Attack stand, located in the LSU space once occupied by the Everytable. But here’s the thing, it seems it was only posted on Urban Mosaic’s Instagram – to 652 followers. Assuming all those followers attend CSUDH, that’s just under five percent of enrolled students.
I know what you might be saying: “George, is this really that big a deal?” For students like me, it is, actually.
These changes may seem inconsequential but where are we going to withdraw money? We know CSUDH has accessibility issues, but now some Toros will have to find the nearest elevator or climb a few flights of stairs just to grab a snack.
Everytable had petitioned to cease operations in Dec. 2023, but the stand wasn’t expected to close so immediately, Avery said.
Fair enough, but why weren’t students notified of the changes? Avery acknowledged that connecting with students can be challenging sometimes. Toros come and go from campus at a moment’s notice, but university organizations still need to make sure important information is relayed to them.
Yes, students need to play their part and actually pay attention to the emails, signs, and postings around campus, but CSUDH should reconsider its approach to communications. Emails or social media posts aren’t always effective, because frankly, some students just don’t seem to care about the campus beyond their classes.
The university should work with students and student organizations to develop better channels of communication – ones that are more likely to resonate with them. You can’t expect social media pages with only a few hundred followers to reach a campus of 14,000-plus.
Fostering a greater sense of community on campus is one of the long-term goals at the university – especially with all the new construction – but if no one really knows what’s happening, all these efforts will fall short.
CSUDH expects us to practice good communication while pursuing our degrees – with our professors, or advisors, and university staff. All we ask is that the university also practices what it preaches.
