In the grey bleakness of winter, when the food trucks have left the terrace empty and barren, there is a distinct lack of options for brand-name food on this campus. Students can make the journey to Tribe Square and eat Pita Pit or Mooyah, or they can eat late night at Sadler. In the middle of the day, however, especially when snow and sleet makes long treks across campus undoable, Sodexo is pretty much a student’s only option. There was one exception to this; the ever-present Qdoba option in Marketplace. We returned from winter break to find out the horrifying truth. Qdoba is gone from the Campus Center, and with it any hope a student might have for midday queso and guac.
There are some Mondays when the only thing getting me through the day is the hope of some queso.
The optimist might note at this point that Qdoba isn’t going to just disappear; it’s going to be replaced with Wholly Habaneros. This is of little comfort to me. There are some Mondays when the only thing getting me through the day is the hope of some queso. I’m not ashamed of my dependence on Qdoba. I’m not ashamed of the fact that when the server asked me if I would like queso or shredded cheese I would say “both”. What I am ashamed of is the fact that Qdoba could be taken it so easily from us.
My friends at Virginia Tech are very smug about their food choices. Their student IDs will, for example, let them swipe in for a sandwich at an on-campus Chik fil A. While I was a little bitter about this, my jealousy was eased by the presence of Mexican food just upstairs from the office where this paper is produced. Now even that small comfort has been wrest from my grasp, and I have to comfort myself with Marketplace chicken tenders, which, while admittedly decent, aren’t quite up to Chik fil A standards.
It’s a dark time here at the College of William and Mary, and we should recognize what we’ve lost here.
In my opinion, the students of the College have been too docile in reaction to this change. “Change can be good,” some might say, or, “It was like $9 for a bowl, there’s no way that’s worth it.” I would politely disagree on both points; I am highly resistant to change in all areas of my life, and on the Gold-14 meal plan, you get 300 dining dollars, which gives you approximately 33 burrito bowls already built into your plan. It’s a dark time here at the College of William and Mary, and we should recognize what we’ve lost here. If you want a bowl or a quesadilla or a bulging burrito, then you’re going to have to wait until ten P.m. Midday Qdoba lovers will tragically be stuck with Sodexo burritos. When William and Mary took Qdoba from us, they left more than a hole in the counter at Marketplace; they left a hole in students’ hearts.
Email Julia Stumbaugh at jmstumbaugh@email.wm.edu.