Tuesday, Oct. 20, the College of William and Mary’s Chief Business Officer Sean Hughes announced in an email to students that the West Woods Dining Hall is officially scheduled to open Friday, Jan. 22, after numerous delays.
The dining hall was initially slated to open in fall 2025.
That evening, the College hosted the Student Assembly in the West Woods Dining Hall for a tour of the facility, providing senators the opportunity to ask questions to Hughes, Executive Director of Hospitality for Aramark Adam Poling, Executive Director of Facilities Operations Marc Kelly, University Architect Dan Pisaniello and Associate Vice President of Auxiliary Services Jackson Mathews.
Hughes attributed the delays to contractors hired by the West Woods Dining Hall developers, who left portions incomplete.
“We’ve been working through that, and just in the last several weeks, we’ve crossed our finish line on some of the critical issues, things that have to be done before it opens,” he said.
Hughes said the dining hall will be ready to operate at full capacity when it opens.
SA Chief of Staff Elif Erdoğan ’27 asked Hughes how administration plans to convince students that the new opening date is genuine. Hughes said Dining Services plans to host various events, trainings and soft openings before the spring semester that will indicate it is ready to open.
“You’ll see a lot of activity,” Hughes said.
Hughes noted that the West Woods development was a different project from most, since the College does not directly own or manage the complex.
“What the university has is a 40-year land lease; we’re paying it back with housing and dining fees,” he said. “It’s owned by a third-party non-profit and developed by [a contractor] who works for them. Typically, we don’t do projects like this. Level of control is valuable to us.”
Hughes said any future projects managed by other developers will contain stricter clauses.
“For setting up the contract, there will be a number of provisions if we ever do something like this again,” he said.
Class of 2029 President Daria Lesmerises ’29 asked what changes would be made to student meal plans moving into the spring semester.
Hughes said that the College plans to make as few changes as possible before the semester starts but that adjustments will be made over the course of the spring.
“There was never a plan to have five Gold Passes,” he said. “However, we recognize there’s been a lot of change this semester. We’re going into this first semester, minimizing disruption.”
Sen. Nate Acklie ’29 asked about progress on the West Woods Phase 2 development.
Hughes said all design work is complete but that the College is prioritizing renovations on older residence halls.
Sen. Mackenna Wyckoff ’28 asked about plans for other capital projects around campus.
Pisaniello said the College is expanding efforts toward pedestrianization and accessibility. He added that future projects will focus on the preservation and restoration of old campus buildings.
“I think you guys have experienced a building boom, but we’re in a different mode right now,” he said. “Our projects are smaller and more targeted.”
Hughes said the new facility will accommodate over 900 seats and require 275 staff members to operate, an increase from the 175 currently employed at Commons Dining Hall.
SA members then toured the dining hall.
Hughes explained that the dining hall will have around 18 stations, including dedicated locations for pasta, sushi, yogurt, stir-fry, omelettes, comfort food and two soft-serve machines.
The dining hall will also have expanded options for dietary restrictions and customization.
Hughes said GrubHub will be integrated into West Woods Dining Hall. Students can order from dining stations through the GrubHub app and kiosks. Their food will be ready for pickup to decrease wait times. Students can still order food directly from stations if they choose.
West Woods Dining Hall also includes a private dining space, which organizations and departments can rent for events.
Acklie said he appreciated the tour and the opportunity to speak directly with administrators.
“I know that there have been past transparency concerns with dining, but I think that those are really being mitigated through this,” he said. “We are so grateful that they reached out to us. I think it’ll be an excellent facility for the students here.”
He said he hopes administrators continue to communicate with SA.
“You can’t obviously affect what’s going to be happening here, but we can certainly try and be the best bridge possible between administration and the student body about what’s going on,” he said.
