Weekends are supposed to be the best part of the week. Those two days are a time when students can relax after a busy week of classes before getting back into their studies. Students can spend time with friends or family, go out to the city, or just hang out on campus.
Although many resident students spend all their weekend time off campus, the resident students live here and therefore need campus facilities to accommodate their hours, which the facilities seem to forget.
Montgoris, the resident dining hall, only offers two meals on the weekends: brunch and dinner. Although the dining hall remains open between the two meals, there is a very limited food selection. The only meals that are served at that time are burgers, salad, soup, and cereal. Another problem with Montgoris on the weekends is the dining hall’s closing time at 7:30 p.m., an hour earlier than it does on weekdays. Many students prefer to eat a late dinner, particularly on the weekends, and those operating hours obviously conflict with this weekend habit.
On Friday and Saturday, the Hungry Johnny does not open until 1 p.m. and it closes at 11 p.m. and is meant specifically to be a convenience store for resident students. Having the store only open between 1 and 11 p.m. on weekends is not convenient. The way the hours are scheduled now, students on campus who need to buy anything after 11 p.m. are forced to go off campus.
Another dining facility, the Marillac Food Court, closes at 1 p.m. on Saturday and is not open on Sundays. Although most of Marillac’s patronage comes from commuter students, because students can buy food from places like Taco Bell and Burger King with meal plan points, it is popular with residents as well. With hours from 8 a.m. to 1p.m. on Saturday and none at all on Sunday, Marillac really does not sync well with most students’ weekend schedules.
Students living on campus need these facilities to make their lives a little more convenient. The shortened weekend hours that exist now are anything but convenient. As much as St. John’s has been trying to foster an active weekend life on campus, the facilities that students rely on the most, like dining halls and the library, are holding those attempts back.
