By Elizabeth Pantano , Staff Writer
On the first night of the spring semester, Siobhan Harrington, a sophomore education major, stood outside a dark and empty Café La Verna.
Harrington walked away both disappointed and puzzled as to why Café La Verna closed earlier than usual.
“I was pretty confused when I went to La Verna and it wasn’t open. I had gone there late at night in the past. I found out a few days later that they changed the hours,” said Harrington. “I was still a bit surprised because I didn’t feel like the school really announced that the hours were changing.”
Starting this semester, Café La Verna is no longer open until 2 a.m. Instead it closes at 11 p.m. each night. Located on the east side of the Hickey Dining Hall, La Verna offers more than just coffee and snacks. It is a popular destination for many students to study or chat with friends, especially late at night.
Nicole Clark, a general manager for Aramark who oversees all dining services for St. Bonaventure University, discussed why the changes to La Verna’s hours of operation were made.
“The University and Dining Services recently reviewed hours of operations of all dining locations,” said Clark. “We determined that Café La Verna was underutilized by the campus community during certain times, thus resulting in hours of operation adjustments.”
This change was communicated to students via email. It was included in the campus notice board before winter break and at the beginning of the spring semester.
Clark said the process of making the time changes was no small feat. Aramark and the university collaborated to discuss what the best options for Café La Verna’s new hours of operation would be.
“The university and dining services worked at length over several months, reviewing various data to determine the necessary changes to operating hours,” said Clark. “The university and dining services agreed on the changes to the Café La Verna hours of operation as any and all changes to hours of operation are mutually discussed and agreed upon.”
Clark said the university and dining services, “reviewed in-depth data containing campus community traffic patterns at all dining locations at all hours, resulting in the changes and optimization to Café La Verna hours of operation.”
Clark declined to provide any comment on whether or not this change could provide any cost-related benefit to Aramark or St. Bonaventure University.
For now, Café La Verna remains a place for students to gather, just with a shorter window to do so.
pantanem18@bonaventure.edu
