NSU Food Court offers more than grub after remodel

By Cathy Spaulding
Phoenix Staff Writer

November 01, 2008 11:33 pm

— TAHLEQUAH — While other Northeastern State University students gather around tables with their fast-food lunches, Roland freshman Travon Hudson sets his lunch sack by a computer screen and checks his e-mail.
“I like it like this,” he said. “I like to be able to eat and get on the computer at the same time.”
A row of computers with wireless Internet access is just one of the new things NSU students say they enjoy about the remodeled food court in the University Center basement.
In addition to wireless access, the food court has flat screen televisions and a greater variety of seating arrangements. Students and faculty can eat at tables, booths or in conversation areas with easy chairs. The court also has a greater variety of food franchises, including Chick-Fil-A, World of Wings, and Freshens frozen yogurt.
The Chick-Fil-A has been on campus for a while, but the other places are new, said NSU Media Relations Coordinator Sean Michael Kennedy. There also is a franchise open only for breakfast. The food court features a new kitchen and dining spaces.
Kennedy said the university’s old food court closed for the remodeling at the end of the 2008 spring semester. It reopened for students and staff earlier this month.
Hudson said he especially likes the hot wings.
“They’ve got a lot of flavor,” he said.
His classmate, William Whitfield of Spiro, said he likes the variety of food places and the flat screen TVs.
Kennedy said the food court “is the result of an extensive collaboration between NSU and Sodexho,” the university’s food service provider. A student board provided input on facilities and services they want at the food court, NSU Foundation Executive Director John Gyllin said in a media release.
The layout of the food court was designed by Dewberry Architecture with Nabholz Construction doing the renovation.
Kennedy said the food court is open seven days a week, though not all franchises will be open. Chick-Fil-A has a policy not to open on Sundays, he said. He said students are able to use their NSU meal plans to pay for meals at the food court.
Gyllin said the food court is an example of the new construction projects on the NSU campus.
Renovation is continuing on a one-stop center where students can get transcripts, financial aid, counseling and other help, Williams said. Such offerings are now scattered across the campus. The center, to be located in the former industrial arts building, was to have been finished by the start of the 2008 fall semester. Kennedy said the center should be open next spring.

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