Thursday, Dec. 18, the College of William and Mary announced via a campus-wide email that the West Woods Dining Hall opening would be delayed due to incomplete construction and transition time needed for dining operations. This delay extends a previous timeline adjustment made last summer, when administrators deferred the hall’s original fall 2025 opening to January 2026.
Maple Hall resident Reuben Menk ’28 described frustration with the delay.
“Just with every delay, I was more and more disappointed and frustrated, honestly, because I feel like there’s been a lot of construction going on,” Menk said. “I was really excited for it and disappointed when it wasn’t open. Every time.”
Menk also wished there was better communication between the College and the students regarding delays.
“When it got closer and closer to the finish date, it just seemed more unreasonable, but they didn’t have many live updates, even if they knew they weren’t going to finish,” Menk said. “I don’t know if that’s just to keep people happy, but it’s just a little frustrating when they don’t update you about that kind of stuff.”
Because some students are transitioning off of meal plans next semester, they may not get to try the new dining hall.
“It doesn’t sound like it’s going to be done until the end of the year,” Menk said. “That’s going to be pretty sad considering I might be off the meal plan next semester, and I might not get to go there.”
While disappointed with the delay, Timmy Tasler ’26, a French house resident in Pine Hall, is glad the College did not rush the construction.
“I was slightly disappointed when they said that it wasn’t going to be available for the winter and that we were going to continue using Caf, but in some ways, I’m glad they didn’t rush it,” Tasler said.
Tasler explained that they felt Pine Hall had been rushed, which they wanted to avoid with the new dining hall.
“I feel like Pine was rushed a bit,” Tasler said. “For example, when I got to my dorm, there was just nails and drywall on my closet. So I was a little relieved [with the delay]. I was thinking if they tried to rush the opening of the West Woods’ dining situation, that it could be a similar thing where there’s structural issues.”
Ben Tescher ’29 reflected on why he chose to live in Pine Hall.
“I was just trying to guarantee myself some good housing,” said Tescher. “It did have to do with the dining hall too because I realized it would be connected to the hall, so it would have been really convenient.”
He found the College’s communication about the dining hall delay similarly disappointing to that with the Pine Hall delay.
“It was the same thing they did with Pine,” Tescher said. “I wasn’t surprised, but it was kind of disappointing.”
When discussing future campus construction timelines, Tescher was not optimistic.
“I lost all my trust,” Tescher said. “I’m not listening to any deadline. I’m not trusting anything pretty much from now on.”
Other students echoed the same sentiments of distrust with future construction completion dates.
“The Pine delay was the first blow to my trust in the construction,” Tasler said. “I guess this is just insult to injury.”
Tasler expanded to talk about the College’s 10-year plan to improve housing and dining facilities.
“I would definitely say my trust is shot in the construction timeline and generally the 10-year plan,” Tasler said. “Especially just for future messaging between the school and the students. If they give us a deadline for construction, I’m going to maintain a very healthy skepticism.”
Moving forward, Menk hopes that the College updates what they tell students about construction timelines.
“I would like them to be more clear because I’m a little more hesitant on what they say,” Menk said. “I hope that they change their process on how they communicate.”
